Cipher Secret
by Awakened Niwana
Summary: Bill Cipher and Dipper Pines have a deal. In order to protect his family, Dipper agrees to become Bill's apprentice. But at what cost? What other secrets is Bill hiding behind his past? Who should Dipper fear? Bill or himself?
1. Episode 1

**Episode 1: Make a deal.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

"Hey, Dipping-sauce, are you awake?" Mabel asked as she nudged her brother gently. Dipper groaned lightly, and then stood on a sitting position on his bed. "Dipper, you won't believe it, but I had a very strange dream!" Dipper groaned again, rubbing the back of his hand against his eyes. Mabel usually would wake him up for stupid reasons, but this was beyond all of them. With a quick glance at the clock on his bedside, he noticed it was _3 in the mornin_g.

"And is it so important that you had to wake me at 3 in the morning?" The boy asked, not feeling like hearing stupidities so soon. Maybe later he could handle Mabel, but not when he felt so sleepy. Mabel jumped next to him, causing the bed to creak in protest, and nodded.

"Yes, it was _so_ weird."

"Did you have any smile dip before going to sleep?" Asked Dipper, as if he was trying to ask himself what would cause Mabel to have a weird dream, though all of her dreams seemed to be very strange with unnecessarily colorful high school boys whose dream was to create a band and conquer their dreams. Oh, the nicest cliché for women.

"Nope, that thing is evil! I'm never buying it again! Well, I was dreaming and you and I were hunting monsters and stuff, when that triangle guy came and took you with him. And somehow you wanted to go with him. And then I saw a monster come and attack me. I called out for you, but you didn't come, even though I called for you for, like, two whole minutes! Then the monster went to bite me, but a wolf came and attacked the monster. And then the wolf came to me, but everything got blurry and everything I saw after I woke up was the strange wolf looking at me with glowing red eyes." Dipper had to admit, that dream was surely strange. Mabel usually had dreams about lands of candy and such, but never a dream like that. With Bill Cipher, no less!

"It's just a dream, Mabel. I'll never go with that demon, and much less abandon you when you need me." Dipper said, trying to comfort his sister. He put a hand on her shoulder. "We are the mystery twins, aren't we?" He asked, nudging Mabel playfully. Mabel smiled at him and nudged him back, and then both did that for a few more seconds.

"Yeah, I think it was just one of those stupid dreams." She assured, but said this more to herself than to her brother. "Sorry to disturb you in the middle of the night, bro. I think I'm going back to sleep." And then she jumped off his bed and made her way to hers. Dipper laid down back on his bed and watched as his twin sister slowly fell asleep again. He just wished that his sister didn't have any other bad dreams, but then he discovered that he couldn't sleep. Mabel's dream was intriguing, for sure. Why would she think he'd join Bill Cipher? And why would she think he wouldn't help her when she was in danger? And what did the wolf with glowing red eyes mean? Dipper knew only one thing of all that: he would never join Bill Cipher.

With that last thought, he fell asleep.

**_…_**

"Hey, wake up, sleepy head." Dipper heard someone call him, but couldn't understand correctly what the person had said because the voice was distorted and blurry. He opened his eyes, and then found out that everything was black. Had he became blind? No, it couldn't be. Dipper rubbed his eyes, trying to keep himself awake, and then he opened his eyes again, hoping to see the attic, his sister in front of him, wearing a ridiculously funny sweater and calling him for breakfast, and Waddles oinking behind her. But he saw none of that, all he saw was black. Dipper stood up, and then realized that he wasn't blind. He could stand up, he wasn't feeling his pillow, and wasn't feeling his bed either. Still, he was fully dressed on his clothes, even his pine tree hat. Dipper looked around.

"Hello?" He asked, trying to find someone in that creepy place, and then he stopped on his tracks. That place looked slightly familiar… _I have an idea_, thought Dipper. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then thought of something simple. He thought of a pebble. And then that pebble he was thinking in appeared in front of him, and then fell to the ground, or something similar as it disappeared from his sight. Dipper growled. Of course! He was in the dreamscape! And who else would be in the dreamscape with him other than _him_? "Quit the hide-and-seek game, Bill, I know you're in here." Dipper announced as he looked at all directions, trying to find a psychotic triangle-shaped guy with a bowtie. A few seconds later, said triangle appeared in front of him.

"Well, well, Pine Tree." The triangle said, with a maniac laugh. "Looks like we meet again. How amazing, isn't it?" Dipper growled louder. Bill was trying to fool him, but he wasn't born yesterday. He knew that the triangle guy meant danger, and danger meant the triangle guy. It was logic. Dipper pointed at him.

"I know what you're up to! You're the one who gave my sister that strange dream!" He shouted, just to make clear that he had caught Bill in his own game.

"Oh, Pine Tree, so you actually caught me." Bill laughed. He was thoroughly enjoying playing with Dipper. However, Dipper felt mad because he knew that Bill was just toying with him. "You know, Shooting Star isn't as intelligent as you. She is gullible, though. And since you've '_defeated_'me once, I actually thought we both could work out here." Dipper narrowed his eyes. He suddenly understood what the dream demon was up to.

"I am definitely _not _making a deal with you, demon." Dipper spat coldly.

"Oh, Pine Tree, but you haven't even heard my proposal yet." Bill interrupted, while circling Dipper. "Here's the deal: you have a strong mind. If you become my apprentice, I'll show you how to control your own mind. And I might even show you some of the Gravity Falls mysteries as well." Dipper narrowed his eyes even more. He wasn't falling for that demon's tricks or his manipulation.

"And what makes you think I will accept your deal?" The preteenager asked, as he knew Bill Cipher very well to know that the deal wasn't going to be fair. If Bill had a mouth, he'd surely be grinning right now.

"Ah, Pine Tree, you're so naïve…" Bill said, as he rolled his black cane in his hands. "Well, if you don't accept my deal then I'll either force you to, or go to your stupid sister's mind and torture her. Also, I can torture your whole family for eternity." He explained. Dipper gaped at him, so it was going to be like that… "Close your mouth, you're drooling." Dipper closed his mouth. "So, Pine Tree… What will it be? Will it be by choice, or **force**?" Bill asked, emphasizing the last word, as his hands glowed with blue fire. He extended his hands, which were surrounded by blue fire by now. Dipper just stared at his hand. He didn't know what to choose. "Come on, Pine Tree, I can't stand like that all night." Dipper closed his eyes, breathed in and out, and then shook Bill's hand.

"I will accept the deal." Dipper said, his eyes were still closed. "But leave my family alone." Bill seemed to think about it. "Please." His voice was barely a whisper. Dipper felt like his strength was being sucked out of his body. He crumbled to the ground, exhausted. Somehow, he knew it had to do with Bill. "What did you do to my energy?" He asked, not even feeling like standing up and facing Bill. The triangle-shaped demon laughed lightly.

"Oh, you humans are so predictable. You're waking up, you idiot." Dipper used his strength left to look around. In fact everything around him was changing, the blackness around him was crumbling and being replaced by white light, and he in fact was waking up. "So, see you next night. And remember: reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram; buy gold, bye!" Dipper's eyes widened. So Bill was going away like that?

"Wait!"

**_…_**

"Ah!" Dipper shrieked as he woke up, his breath was shallow and his heart was hammering inside his chest. He had dreamed about him and Bill Cipher making a deal, but a question crossed his mind: was it really a dream? He stood up, ignoring the dizziness he felt, and then went to find his shoes and navy-blue vest. Somehow, Dipper already had his pine tree hat on. This just made his question, about the dream being real or not, intensify itself. Dipper sighed as he walked downstairs, and found Mabel eating breakfast with her pet pig, Waddles, at her side. At noticing Dipper, she waved at him.

"Hey, Dipper!" Shouted Mabel excitedly. "Come eat with us!" Dipper felt his headache getting worse, but sat next to Mabel. She handed to him a plate of pancakes which shone more than all of Mabel's glittered sweaters together. "I made this specially for you! It's made of extra shiny sprinkles!" She explained, while taking a bite of her own pancakes. "Come, have a taste!" Mabel handed him a fork.

"Uh, thanks." Dipper took the fork and gave a bite to the pancake. He felt his headache get much worse when he swallowed the pancake. "Ugh." He moaned as he pressed his head against the table, and tangled his fingers between his brown hair locks. Mabel noticed this and then thought it was her pancake that made him like that.

"Dipper, are you ok? Were my pancakes bad?" She asked, concerned.

"No, your pancakes were good, Mabel." He lied, he could barely taste anything. Everything was tasteless. Even his own saliva. "It's just some stupid headache." He stood up, and tried to get up. "I'm going to the attic, if you don't mind. I want to lie down." But as he took his first steps he stopped. He felt his muscles relaxing, as well as his body going limp. The next thing Dipper knew before going unconscious was that he was falling to the ground with Mabel screaming behind him.

**_…_**

"Oh, Pine Tree, can't I leave you alone for a second and you already get yourself into trouble?" Dipper heard a voice say. He gritted his teeth to fight against the pounding in his head. With much willpower, he opened his eyes, just to face one big eye. He looked around, everything was black. Definitely he was in the dreamscape. "Oh, you woke up, then." Dipper winced at the demon's high-pitched voice. His headache was getting worse, but why did he have a headache just when he woke up. "You must be wondering about your headache, right?"

"How…?" Dipper didn't have the strength to ask the rest of the question.

"I read minds, kid. And I'm on your mindscape now. I don't have to make any effort to read your mind. Everything you think comes right to me." Dipper knew that he had to be careful about what he'd thought next to Bill Cipher. But… not thinking about something was the same as avoid the unavoidable. "So, how did you end up here?" Bill asked. Dipper rolled his eyes. Was Bill trying to act naïve or what…?

"Aren't you all-knowing? Why don't you answer it yourself?" Dipper asked, standing up and ignoring the dizziness. Bill rolled his cane in his hands. He tried to hit Dipper playfully with a small shot of light but Dipper, even with a headache, avoided it and then hit Bill back with a shot of light from his finger, right on Bill's bowtie; he knew counter-attacking the enemy was dangerous, but he was tired of this all. Bill looked at the hole on his chest surprised, then he filled the hole like nothing had happened. He looked at Dipper, who was growling at him.

"Feisty, aren't you?" The demon asked in a mocking tone, which just made Dipper grow louder. "Oh, you haven't noticed then…" Bill said loudly, which made Dipper's frustrated expression turn into a curious one. "Ah, you're interested." His mocking tone was back. Dipper was _still_ frustrated but he'd rather die crumbled than die of curiosity.

"What do you mean _I haven't noticed_?" Dipper asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Have you ever growled like this before? Or felt anything like this, _pure anger_?" Bill asked, and Dipper felt like he was giving the answer to him. Dipper had never growled the way he did, with such anger. Dipper gulped, what was happening with him? He closed his eyes one more time, and focused on his anger, for everything and everyone that had made him mad. He felt a growl unwillingly dying on his throat, and then he went to touch his face, or, more specifically, his teeth. When he touched them with his tongue, his eyes widened. They were sharper, at least his canine teeth.

"What is happening to me…?" Dipper whispered to himself. "I'm becoming a monster..."

"Yeesh, kid, you're just awakening inside." Bill answered. Dipper's eyes widened even more, and he looked around. Everything around him was fading. He had learned that this indicated that he was waking up. Dipper looked at Bill one more time. His mind had one simple question: _what did Bill mean? _The demon seemed to have read Dipper's mind again. "Everything will be answered tonight, kid." And then Bill snapped his fingers. In one blink, he was gone.

"HEY! WAIT!" That was Dipper's last shout for Bill before everything faded to white.

* * *

**A/N (Also a symbol for my name *smile*): Hello, everybody!**

**For those who don't know me, my name is Niwana. Well, that's not my real name, but why does that matter anyway?! So, to the important part. I'm brazilian, which means that I don't speak english as well as a north-american. But I think I'm good at writing anyways. This is my first story, and it'll be separated in episodes instead of chapters, like an episode inside of your mind. I present you _Cipher Secret_! Uh, I'm so lame. Anyways, here's the first episode. I hope you like it. I also hope you like the story's background. Wolfchildren lovers will either love or hate me (I don't blame them, _Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki_ is also my favorite movie ever). The feelings, dude, the feelings...**

**For those who haven't watched it, I'm not giving spoilers here, but I suggest that if you like romance and wolves, you should watch it. Honestly. If you're wondering what this movie has to do with this fanfiction, you will know soon. Just a tip: two things about it are related to the movie. I'm so lame (again saying that). See you in the next chapter!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off**_**.**


	2. Episode 2

**Episode 2: First lesson.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

"He's waking up!" Dipper heard someone say.

"Shh, you're being too loud." He complained, while opening his eyes, wincing lightly at the light hitting directly his eyes. There were Mabel, Soos, Wendy and Grunkle Stan surrounding him. He tried to get up at noticing he was lying on the sofa, but dizziness hit him, and he leaned against it for support. "What… What happened?" He stuttered, and winced at the pain on his head. The others looked at each other, worried. Dipper could notice their hesitation; did they know about his and Bill's deal? No, it happened on his mind, they couldn't possibly know about something like that. But, if then, what'd cause their silence? Finally, his thoughts were interrupted by Mabel, who started first.

"Well, you fainted. What happened?" She asked, worried. Dipper, for the first time while talking to his sister, didn't know what to say. He just stuttered.

"N-nothing, just a stupid headache, but it's gone." Dipper lied.

"I'm glad that's all." Mabel said, as everyone was dismissed and/or sent back to work (by Stan, of course). Dipper felt half bad for lying to Mabel, but knew that it was for her own sake. None of them could know about his deal with Bill, and if they did… How would Mabel react? Shout at him? Ignore him? Act as if it was a prank? Or simply say that he did the wrong thing? Dipper didn't know, but he was very scared of her discovering his secret. What'd she think of him? Suddenly one thing crossed his mind: her dream from the previous night. _And, somehow, you were willing to go with him_, Mabel's voice echoed through Dipper's mind. Would he really abandon his sister over a bloody demon? Dipper gritted his teeth and stood up abruptly, ignoring the dizziness one more time, and going to his room in the attic. "Dipper?" Mabel asked, unsure of what else to say, but it was too late. Dipper had locked himself on his room.

Dipper sat on his bed, sighing, and then he lied on his bed. Dipper closed his eyes, and then drifted off to sleep.

**_…_**

"Bill, where am I now?" Dipper asked, as he looked around. That place didn't sound like the dreamscape. It wasn't equal. It looked like a forest. A quiet forest. Dipper ignored the sound of growls peeking through his ears, and tried to find Bill. Something told him that it sounded more like a nightmare than a dream. Especially because the sound of growls was getting louder. Much more louder. Dipper's eye twitched uncomfortably as he felt a hot breath next to his ear. Closing his eyes, Dipper spun on his heels and shouted. "BILL, CAN YOU STOP IT?!" And then he opened his eyes. That wasn't Bill. Dipper felt the color being drained off his face as he realized that he was staring at a snake. A 15 meter tall snake. "Oh my—" He barely had time to finish the sentence.

The snake hissed at him, and then it went to attack him. Dipper avoided the first lunge, but wasn't as successful the next time. The snake lunged at him again, and then gave him a head-butt. Dipper was sent flying to a nearby tree; the creature had an unimaginable strength. The snake lunged to him again and again, and this time he avoided perfectly. Dipper jumped on its head, and, on a failed attempt to get him off its head, the snake lunged to a tree and tried to hit its head to it, trying to make Dipper collide with the tree. However, Dipper was smarter than the snake and jumped on the tree's nearest branch, as the snake hit its head on the tree's trunk. The snake tried to hang onto its consciousness but failed as it unceremoniously fell to the ground.

"Aww, is the fun over already?" A voice asked from below Dipper. He looked down, and saw Bill Cipher under him, on a lower branch. "I was expecting more of a show, but you were quite fast defeating that snake." Dipper narrowed his eyes at the demon. _You! _He thought, knowing that the demon could read minds, especially because he didn't have any words to express how angry he was. "Me. Did you miss me? Admit it, you miss me!" The demon started poking the boy with his cane in a playful manner. Something Dipper didn't like at all.

"You tried to kill me!" Dipper shouted, pointing a finger of accusation at him. Bill laughed, while Dipper growled again, frustrated and tired of the demon's constant mocking.

"But I didn't kill you, did I?" Bill asked rhetorically. Surely he'd be grinning if he had a face. Without a proper answer, Dipper stuttered, and then gave up, his cheeks flushed. He crossed his arms and looked to the side. "Aww, the baby is pouting. How adorable." He said in a mocking tone. Dipper refused to talk to him. Or even think about all curses and bad words that were probably about to pass through his mind for the next ten minutes. "Hey, aren't you going to say something?"

"Something. Happy now?" Dipper asked, feeling frustrated.

"Yes." Bill answered mockingly, as he disappeared. Dipper looked around, trying to find a psychotic floating nacho, and then said nacho appeared behind him, startling him and almost making him fall. He just didn't fall because he held a branch in time. "Ah, Pine Tree, you're so easy to scare." Bill laughed. Dipper grimaced.

"Can you stop laughing and help me out here? Otherwise, if I die, our deal will be over." Dipper explained in the most reasonable way possible. Bill, still laughing, snapped his fingers quickly, and Dipper floated, surrounded by a blue aura. "What the he…" Dipper mentally scolded himself for almost cursing out loud, but he was so impressed that he didn't even care. "You can put me down already, Bill." Dipper announced out loud, making the glowing aura around him fade. He fell on the tree's branch, which cracked and then he fell to the floor. As weird as it was, he didn't feel any pain. "…" Dipper said nothing as he narrowed his eyes at Bill, the one who technically was the one to blame for all of the weird things that happened to him today. You know what? Risk the 'technically' from the sentence. He was truly the one to blame for all this. Bill hovered above him.

"You said I could put you down." He defended himself, raising his hands.

"Did you need to be so harsh?" Dipper asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer didn't need to answer that. With some difficulty, he managed to keep himself on a sitting position. The weirdest thing was that he probably fell off a 15-meter tall tree, but didn't get hurt. _I shouldn't get so surprised_, he thought bitterly_, I'm, right now, having to deal with a psychotic nacho-like triangle, and nothing else is weirder than that. And besides, I'm dreaming, this isn't real, which means I can't die. _Dipper sighed. **That **was what he wished, but unfortunately, he was awake. Just… Awake inside. "So, why are we here anyway? It certainly isn't a prank of yours." He guessed.

"Ding-ding! We have a winner!" Bill joked, his colors changing from yellow to blue and vice versa. "Surely it isn't a prank, but almost. You're here for your first lesson." Bill said. "Ready to die on your first day of lesson?" Dipper frowned.

"As funny as that was, no." Dipper answered.

"Okay, let's stop talking. The first lesson is simple: levitation." Before Dipper could say something, a flash of light caused him to close his eyes. After he sensed that the light was gone, he opened his eyes, and stiffened at what he saw. There, in front of him, was a man on his early 20's, with blonde hair, yellow eyes and using triangle-shaped jewelry. Well, apparently normal, for _Bill Cipher_. "I'm on my human form now, and, yesh, you humans are such weird creatures." Bill said, analyzing himself on his human form, as if he hadn't seen it before. "It feels like it's been so long since I haven't experienced being on a human body that wasn't a host's." He muttered.

"What would you want with your human form, then?" Dipper asked, crossing his arms and frowning. He definitely was getting bored. And very confused. That was his first lesson, was the first lesson about levitation or toleration? Because he definitely couldn't tolerate Bill and his weirdness.

"It'll make your lessons easier, since I can identify with you, lower beings." Bill explained; Dipper furrowed his brows upon being referred to as a 'lower being'. "Enough with the pep talk. To levitate, you need to concentrate first. After some training, you'll be doing it naturally. Now close your eyes." Dipper sighed, but complied. He waited for Bill's next instruction. "Good, now empty your mind, just think about nothing." Dipper opened his eyes, and was really confused.

"If I think about nothing, then I'll be thinking about thinking of nothing, won't I?" Dipper wanted a reaction, something to make the atmosphere in that place a little less unsettling.

"Doesn't matter, just think about black." Bill said, narrowing his eyes at the brown-haired boy. _He's stubborn_, Bill thought_, I like that_. Dipper inhaled, to prevent him from lunging at the demon at full speed, and then closed his eyes again. Unwillingly, Bill smiled at that. The boy, although not fully trusting the demon, would obey him. Maybe that was a sign of trust…? Bill would have to wait until Dipper fully trusted him. "Now think about something you like, something that makes you feel free." Dipper's hands clenched into fists as he tried to remember something that made him free. Probably it wasn't chasing monsters around and almost killing himself. Dipper remembered of one day when he was flying with Mabel on that weird gryphon-creature that had stolen one of her sweaters and a pot of glitter. It made him feel free, it made him feel brave. Dipper felt the air around him get lighter. "Well, now open your eyes." Dipper opened his eyes, and looked around. He could see the 'sky' of the dreamscape. And the clouds. He looked down, and saw HOW _high_ he was.

"AH!" Dipper shrieked, that was worse than when he was almost dropped by said gryphon. He fell, losing his focus, and then landed on a tree branch. That time, it really hurt — was it possible to even get hurt in the dreamscape? "Ugh…" He moaned. Bill floated around him, barely containing his laughter. "Don't laugh…" Dipper warned between teeth, just to have Bill to have a laughing fit. Dipper waited until it stopped, and had a serious face all the way.

"Sorry, Pine Tree, but… what was that?" Bill said, sniggering.

"I got startled. I was too high!" Dipper explained. "I thought I was going to levitate a few millimeters from the floor! Not as high as a skyscraper!" Bill rolled his eyes. The kid was a fast learner, but needed to control his fears. Maybe a little more training would do it. Especially with more gigantic snakes. Because gigantic snakes are fun. "Are we going to have another lesson or what?" Dipper asked, snapping Bill out his momentary trance. Before Bill could answer anything, everything around them started to crumble. Just like the branch under Dipper. He fell, but concentrated long enough to float before hitting the floor. "Hey, I did it!" Dipper whispered quietly to himself, smiling.

"Well, tonight we'll have more lessons, and you'll learn harder things. While that, I'll be watching you." Bill said. The last part he quoted on a rather scary tone of voice, which Dipper knew he'd have to get used to. Because Bill was his… mentor. The word sent shivers through Dipper's spine. He sighed, and then slowly landed on the ground, which luckily didn't crumble under him. Somehow, Dipper knew that he had a deal with the devil, and he was becoming his apprentice in order to protect his family from said devil. He didn't how to distinguish reality from illusion anymore. That'd make him laugh if it wasn't tragically tragic. The whole world around him crumbled until all he saw was darkness…

**_…_**

Dipper opened his eyes in a heartbeat. He looked around, analyzing every inch of the room. He was back in the attic. He tried to remind the events of his dream. He had fallen asleep. Bill had taught him his first lesson. Levitation. And tried to kill him with a giant snake. Or at least tried to make him stronger, which wasn't exactly working. _Well, that was fun_, Dipper thought while smiling a little; why was he smiling, though? Bill had tried to kill him, shouldn't he be mad? For some reason, he couldn't be. He stands up, hopping out of bed, and then proceeds to get dressed. He grabbed his navy-blue vest, his pine tree hat and his socks, not even realizing what Bill had done to him between his shoulder blades. There, lay Bill Cipher's wheel, with a triangle in the middle of said wheel. Dipper wouldn't notice that. Perhaps that was Bill's intention.

"Morning." He said to Mabel. She smiled at him. He could sense waves of unease emanating from her. Wait, when could he feel that? _Bill_, he thought bitterly. That didn't matter right now.

"Good morning. I made normal pancakes because the extra shiny sprinkles were gone! But it's okay; I'll buy new ones secretly using Grunkle Stan's money again." Dipper stifled a laugh. Indeed Mabel was a funny girl, she lightened up his morning already. She handed him the pancakes. "And after what happened today, I don't want you fainting again." Dipper was about to take a bite of his pancake when he heard that. Did Mabel really think that it was her fault? Dipper sighed, putting his fork down, and stood up. He went to her side, and grabbed both her shoulders, forcing eye contact. Mabel's eyes widened, was it just her imagination or her brother was a little more confident?

"It's not your fault, Mabel! I already had that headache when I took a bite of the pancake! So stop blaming yourself for everything! I don't want to see you sad…" With this last statement, Dipper looked down at the floor. He'd hate the idea of Mabel – his overly cheerful sister – sad and depressed, all because of him. "So smile, ok?" He asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Mabel smiled softly at him, and then hugged him. "Whoa!" Dipper exclaimed as both of them almost fell at the floor if it wasn't for some kind of invisible force that was keeping them from falling. _Bill…_

"Thank you, Dipper, for being the best brother ever." Mabel said, smiling at him. He smiled back. She broke the hug and then looked at him, still smiling. "We're siblings, right?" She asked, which made Dipper wonder why she'd ask something like that. He nodded. "And you promise that, when you have a secret, you'll tell it to me, right?" Dipper's smile turned into a frown. "Right?" Mabel asked, now she was worried about Dipper's reaction for her question. Was he keeping a secret from her and refused to tell her? Did he trust her at all? She wouldn't tell anyone! Not even Candy or Grenda! Suddenly Dipper smiled.

"Right…" He said. Mabel finished her last pancake in one bite and went to leave the kitchen, when Dipper called her. "Mabel!" He called. "I have to tell you something." _Will I really do that? _Dipper thought, _I promised I'd keep it a secret, but I can't disappoint my sister. What will I do? _Mabel turned to him, waiting for an answer. "Uh, it's nothing. Sorry." Dipper apologized, rubbing the back of his head in shame. Mabel nodded.

"Don't hesitate in telling me if something is wrong." She said, before exiting the kitchen, followed by her pet pig, Waddles. Dipper sighed, as he sat on a chair, and banged his head on the table.

_…What to do?_

* * *

**A/N (important): Hi! *avoids pebbles and anvils***

**Sorry for the late update, but I've updated this on March 23, so I'm updating now on March 30 because I've decided that I'll update once a week. Makes things easier, huh? And besides, I have school stuff to do and I also analyze any kind of errors on grammar and such. I have the entire story plot line written, but I'm not going to write it fast. I want this story to be slow, and with the secrets being slowly revealed, and big, because as you know it's my first story. And I'm so happy! I had it for two years, but it was forgotten and etc. Now that I've started writing the 'cipher secret' saga it'll be better for me. I hope I get good grades at school, or I won't be able to update! **

**Don't worry, I'm sure I'll get good grades and, if I don't, the story will be on hiatus for a while, until I can enter on my computer again. And I promise to try my best to make a bigger chapter. And I'm also making bigger chapters if the A/Ns doesn't count. Well, that's all I have to say for a while.**

**EDIT (03/29/2017): This story happens a little after Gideon is arrested but still before Scare-oke. I'll say the same thing on chapter 41. Thank you for reading :3 I've also edited a lot of things on this chapter.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	3. Episode 3

**Episode 3: Family reunion?  
****Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

"Mentor Keehnesi?" Asked a voice behind the one called Keehnesi. The pink floating square, called Keehnesi, or Keeh for short, turned to the black-haired boy with dark green eyes. "I sense an aura amongst us, and it's dangerous. However, I can't identify the owner of such aura. I was wondering if you are able to do so, mentor." The child asked formally and respectfully. The square floated to him before swiftly turning into a human. His form was simple: a man on his early twenties wearing a pink suit and with bright pink hair with a single braid at the end. The man looked down at the boy. As the child called him 'mentor', it could be assumed that the child was his apprentice.

"I'm not so sure, Asaph. Some things are better left unseen." Keehnesi answered to his student, Asaph Horth. The boy huffed, and then sat on the floor of the dreamscape. "Now, for your next lesson you know what to do, right?" The boy thought hard as memories from last time resurfaced to his mind: he was learning how to teleport himself to places. Asaph nodded. "Ok, it's simple. Close your eyes, focus and then think of a specific place. It's like the levitation lesson." Keehnesi explained. Asaph closed his eyes for a brief moment, but then opened them again. He most likely had a question.

"Sir, I think Mister Bill is here." As a matter of fact, Bill suddenly appeared next to Keehnesi, who wasn't so impressed at all. "Yeah…" Asaph muttered, now feeling uncomfortable with the situation he had just predicted. Like all young dream demons, Asaph Horth had a special psychic power. He could predict the future, see what'd happen, but his power had limits. He could see only what'd happen days before it would actually happen. Sometimes just seconds before it'd happen! He barely had time to do anything, in which predicting the future came up as an annoying power, according to him.

"Hey, Keeh! What's up?" Bill asked in a relaxed tone, leaning against Keehnesi. The taller man just grunted and shoved Bill off him.

"I'm good. Now, what do you want? Did you finally find yourself an apprentice or what?" Asked Keehnesi harshly. He seemed very irritable, but it was rare to find a day when he isn't. Bill rolled his eyes. And Keehnesi usually lacked all kinds of emotions because it'd make him go 'soft' on his students and that was something he would never do. Especially because, comparing to all other dream demon's students he has had, he pushed Asaph beyond his limits the most. That caused the boy to behave and respect him, and to be at a higher level than normal dream demons at his age.

"Yes, I did." Bill chirped loudly, which caused Keehnesi to wince at the loud tone of his voice. "And I won't lose this one. Not this time." The blond reassured, although it seemed like it was more to himself than to anyone else. Keehnesi knew exactly what Bill was talking about when he said 'not this time'. He was there. He was glad that it happened. The boy was a dangerous demon, a threat! It had to be eliminated. But Bill liked him, and Keehnesi hurt him. He hurt them both. Keehnesi shook the thoughts off his mind; he wasn't going soft on Bill.

"That's great." The pink-haired man answered in a monotone voice. "Since you're so excited about it, why don't you bring him tonight for the reunion? He surely must've learned something already." Asaph's eyes lit up. He had only one male friend. Meeting a new boy must be exciting; he didn't even care about the gender. As he completed that thought, two silhouettes appear suddenly next to him, causing the black-haired kid to stir. The two figures, after some seconds, became two _almost_ identical kids: dark, wavy orange hair, flicking green eyes, freckles and two matching smiles; the difference was that, while the boy's smile was sincere, the girl's was more malicious. They were also wearing identical suits: white shirts and shorts, gray cloaks and two blue bracelets. They could've been easily misunderstood if the girl didn't have longer hair with two long pigtails. Somehow, she managed to be scarier than Bill, whilst the boy could be considered her tamer.

"Aph! How are you?! I haven't seen you since forever!" The girl asked loudly, almost shouting.

"He's probably fine, like always. We saw him yesterday." The boy answered. "Also, can't you say a word without shouting?"

"You can't boss me!" The girl growled; though the growl sounded really false at this point. "Remember that I'm older than you! Don't forget about that fact, I'm the alpha here!" The red-haired pointed out, poking her brother in the chest just to prove her point. A smirk found its way to her mouth. The boy narrowed his eyes at her. He hated when she did that, rubbing her two minutes of difference in hos face.

"Just for a few minutes! We're twins, remember?" He protested. "And that makes absolutely no difference whatsoever!"

"I'm STILL older."

"Oh, shut up, Danna."

"Make me, Dan!" And then the two siblings quit the bickering to start a real screaming match. Asaph rolled his eyes. He didn't expect anything else. It always ends up in a fight. He snapped his fingers and the siblings were both caged, on different cages of course. His skills and dreamscape manipulation were on point, luckily, and he was able to prevent fights and stop them easily.

"Great…" Daniel murmured with a sarcastic smile.

"Hey, let us out of here! Please, I'm claustrophobic and all!" The girl, Danna, exclaimed when she noticed that she was in a cage, gripping the bars. Asaph approached the two of them. They didn't know what Asaph would do to them, especially because he hated fight, even if he got into them as well sometimes (Asaph would proudly admit he was a hypocrite); mainly when it came to the two of them. In normal circumstances they would have managed to free themselves on their own, but their lack of training was what prevented that from happening.

"Stop fighting, then." He insisted.

"Danna started it." Daniel accused with a poker face, while pointing to his sister. Danna frowned at him.

"Oh, so now it's MY fault?" Before Daniel could retort, a bright light illuminated the room, forcing everyone to look up. A circle-shaped blue creature appeared, and then looked down at the two caged siblings. They looked up for a while, gulped and then pretended they didn't see anything. The triangle narrowed its only eye, glowed briefly and then a young woman, with baby-blue hair and dress-looking clothes with the same color, appeared instead. She floated to where the two siblings were caged. In a snap of fingers, the two were free from the cages. Of course, that didn't mean they were free from the upcoming _punishment_.

"You two should be _training_!" She scolded. "Why are you two here?"

"W-We just wanted to see Asaph!" Danna explained. "Right, As?" Asaph shrugged. The two siblings always used the excuse of going to 'visit' him to escape the lessons. They found it boring, and always preferred the chaos that it brought. The woman didn't seem to buy the answer. "Fine! We were trying to escape the training! It's boring, so what?" Danna gave up on trying giving an excuse. She was easy to break through. Her aura wasn't the strongest, but her mind was sharp. Daniel was exactly the opposite: while not having a 'focused' mind such as his sister, he was hard to drive into madness and also difficult to make him give up so easily.

"Alright, you both, to your own dreamscape. I'll talk to you later." Daniel and Danna felt something inside them snap. It was probably their courage. They nodded fearfully and, in a snap of fingers, they disappeared. The other two adults in the room turned to see the woman pinching the bridge of her nose. "What will I do to them?" She whispered, before noticing the other two demons around her. "Oh, hey there." She said monotonically.

"You sound sad." Keehnesi said in a monotone voice, as always.

"I think I'm getting a migraine." The woman answered out loud.

"Kids are little devils, Bea. Once you get one, or two, or three even, you've sold your soul to the devil." Bill said, smiling. The woman, Beatrice, didn't enjoy his explanation at all. But it was close to the reality. "You're coming to the reunion today, right? I haven't seen you since last year when you had to go to that important place which you refuse to talk about." The blonde man circled Beatrice.

"Of course I'm coming, but it'll depend on Danna and Daniel's behavior. I know that they look like they were raised from hell, but this week in particular they are insupportable!" She exclaimed. "They manage to drive me mad faster than you do." Beatrice smirked at her last sentence.

"Ouch, that hurt me deeply, Bea. I'm not that bad." Bill said in a fake mock-hurt, putting his hand to his heart. Wherever it should be. "And I'm bringing my new apprentice too. Today they'll learn how to turn into their animal forms, right?"

"Yes." Bea answered. "Do you remember the first time you've turned into your animal form?" She asked. Bill smirked at the memories. Keehnesi didn't sound so happy about it at all. After all, how could he? When Bill is on his animal form, it's like a bullet: unstoppable, chaotic and deadly. Not very different from his normal form. Bill can go chaotic in any form.

"How could _anyone_ forget? He went all crazy and tried to eat me just because he could." Keehnesi deadpanned. Asaph stifled a laugh. A simple glare from his mentor shut him up.

"Sorry, you sounded delicious." Bill said in a mocking tone.

"You're an idiot." Keehnesi shot him a hard glare, in which Bill replied with a smirk.

"You're still delicious, maybe I'll try to eat you." Bill's smirk could show everyone his now-sharp teeth. Then a tail was seen waving behind him back and forth. His nails got sharper, his mouth was becoming a muzzle and Bea noticed two elevations on his head. Dog ears. _Oh, great, he's starting again_, she thought. She took a step back, pretending she wasn't there. But she was there. Logic.

"Oh, no. Bill, don't you dare to approach me!" Keehnesi threatened, while he started to run. Behind him, a golden-fur wolf was running at full speed. It wasn't very visible, but he was smirking. "BILL, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" The pink-haired young adult shouted. Bill kept following him. So technically, to resume everything, they were crazy. And Bill's animal form was a wolf. (Am I giving too much spoilers? No? Ok.) Bea was now watching a neon-colored dream demon being followed by a demon wolf with a bowtie. Classic.

"I am surrounded by idiots…" Bea muttered while face-palming. But **deep **inside, she was having fun. _I wonder how tonight's going to be_, that was her last thought before she teleported to where her students were. She would have a serious conversation with them.

_**...**_

_What to do…? _Dipper kept muttering to himself multiple times while lying on his bed, his face was buried on the pillow. _I promised Mabel that I'd tell any secret that I had, but is it worth it? And how would she react at discovering that I made a deal with our worst enemy? _The brunette boy groaned. He was facing some kind of eternal dilemma. And what should he do? _I'm sure that if I just lie here all day it won't solve anything… Maybe I should ask Bill about it… _Dipper mused deeply. He wasn't fully trusting Bill, but the demon proved that he wasn't all bad. At least that is what Dipper thought. _Even so, how could I know if he's a threat or not?_

_"Arguing with yourself, kid?" _Dipper immediately stood up on the bed. And then he analyzed every inch of the room. No one was there. Then who had talked to him? _"Yesh, kid, don't you recognize me? Ha ha, I'll give you a hint, it's not you!"_

"Bill?" Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Uh, where are you? Are you invisible, or…?"

_"I'm on your mind, kid!" _The monotone voice answered. _"And, gosh, some things here can't be unseen. What's your relationship with the ginger girl, anyway?" _Dipper blushed madly. Could Bill see his memories too? _"Yes." _And he could, apparently, read his mind as well. Dipper bit his lower lip. He had to be more careful about his thoughts. _"Anyway, kid, I'm here to tell you something _**_very _**_important happening tonight, so you'll have to go to bed earlier today." _Dipper was now getting interested in what Bill was talking about.

"Why?" He asked.

_"Well, two other dream demons will have a reunion with me and I need you there. They'll also bring their apprentices so you won't feel so uncomfortable. Or you will. The point is that I need you there at 9:30. Got it?" _Bill asked.

"Yes, I guess." Dipper muttered.

_"Great! See you, kid. And, remember, I'm always watching!" _And then Dipper felt his mind get lighter. Dipper blinked twice; he felt like he had just awakened from a dream. He rubbed his eyes and then blinked again. His sight was now clear. The brunette glanced at the clock on his bedside: 2 P.M. _Maybe I'll hunt some unnatural creatures today, I have time…_ Dipper grabbed book #3 and then headed to the forest. One thought couldn't leave his mind, and hovered around it like a bird trying to catch a worm...

_…I wonder who I'll meet tonight…_

* * *

**A/N: What the f*** was that 'chase-Keeh-in-a-wolf-body' part? Well, HAPPY APRIL FOOLS... or not.**

**Sorry, I guess I needed some comedy to lighten up my day because I have a freaking cold and this stuff is horrible. Let's see how many OCs we have here: Keehnesi, Asaph, Daniel, Danna and Beatrice. Lol, 5 OCs on only one chapter. My record! TONIGHT THE APPRENTICES WILL DISCOVER THEIR ANIMAL FORMS! I have some questions that I'd like you to answer, if you can, of course. QUIZ TIME:**

**(1): What will Dipper's animal form be? And the others (Asaph, Daniel and Danna)?**

**(2): What is the relationship between Keeh, Bill and Bea? (Ciphercest? Nop, sorry ...Although the idea of Billcest [weird word] isn't bad at all [hentai mental ilness activated])**

**(3): Do you like nachos? (Bill: Is that a joke or what?)**

**Do you? I'm just wondering here... '_You're still delicious_' F*ck you, brain, why did I have to put this phrase on this fanfiction? SEE, KIDS? _THIS _IS _WHY _THAT FIC IS T-RATED! 'CUZ I'M A JERK! Well, that's all, I guess. I haven't slept in three days.**

**...**

**Second A/N: I'm back, and re-writting this chapter with the help of Lanx Borealis! It's just that I'm fixing grammar errors that he helped. THANKS, LANX! I'm also asking for his help for later chapters. And I'm always improving, ok? It's just that I'm BRAZILIAN and my country isn't, well, as good as you think. But I'm always improving. Bye!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	4. Episode 4

**Episode 4: Meetings and Announcements.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

_Vwosh!_

Dipper stopped on his tracks and looked up. It sounded like an animal flying above him. All he had seen was a shadow passing above him.

It couldn't be the pterodactyl, as the shadow seemed bigger, and it was at least three times bigger than him. Dipper looked around, analyzing the forest. He grabbed book #3 from his vest's pocket and then attempted to search for any flying paranormal creature, only to be interrupted by another sound equal to the previous one. _Vwosh! _However, this one sounded nearer. Dipper leaned against a tree, as if trying to hide himself from the creature – even though he knew it wouldn't be very effective.

"Come on, come on…" He murmured impatiently as he tried to search an answer on the book in his hands. No creature in this book – except for the gryphon – seemed to fly. Some floated, but the creature had _wings_. He had seen it. It surely wasn't a gryphon, because they are way smaller than the shadow he had seen. _Large wings, crimson-red eyes, sharp teeth and long, pointy tail_, Dipper mentally listed every physical characteristic of the creature. Dipper closed the book and then sighed. He was doomed, for sure.

_VWOSH! _

Dipper barely had time to try to discover where the sound had come from when the tree he was leaning against was completely destroyed. He fell forward, hitting his head on the hard ground. Dipper suppressed a scream of pain and turned around, still lying on the ground. The creature could still be seen totally covered in shadows (somehow, that was possible) but it was, at least, 10 meters bigger than the pine trees covering the area around the forest. "Wow…" The brunette muttered, impressed and scared at the same time.

He tried to run, but he couldn't stand up. He could barely move! All of his muscles stiffened as the creature approached him. Dipper's heart hammered inside his chest, and he closed his eyes, ready to feel the pain. He shut his eyes stronger as he heard the creature's roar echoing through the forest, making birds on nearby pine trees fly away, startled. However, Dipper couldn't suppress his curiosity anymore. He opened his eyes quickly, and then realized the creature was gone! Even so, its roar still echoed through the forest of large pine trees.

"…What was that?" Dipper asked himself, still not believing that had happened.

Standing up slowly, he looked around, to make sure the creature wasn't around, and kept walking. While walking, the brunette couldn't stop thinking about the creature. What should he call it? Surely, Dipper couldn't call it a 'shadow' forever, because it definitely wasn't a shadow. Or was it? Dipper narrowed his eyes, as if trying to make his brain work harder to crack the code. _Before giving it a name – if it doesn't already have one – I have to discover what creature it is. If it already has a species, then I'll have to find out more things about it. I already have some information. All I have to do is write it down_, Dipper stopped suddenly. He had noticed a few weeks ago that, at the end of the book, there were blank pages. He smiled. _And that should just about do it._

**_…_**

Dipper lied on his bed, sighing. He was beat, and didn't know for how long he had been writing down all the things he knew about the mysterious creature. He looked at the clock on his bedside: it was still 9:12 p.m. He had about 18 minutes to attempt to fall asleep; that wouldn't be easy since he was still shaken up due to the unexpected meeting with a mysterious monster in the forest. He had written down every characteristic he had seen about the creature. And he also made small drawings about its form. After all, it was still considered a shadow.

He glanced at the clock again: now it was 9:14 P.M. He sighed in boredom. Closing his eyes, he attempted to fall asleep. That was a failed attempt, as all that his mind could picture was the creature's piercing crimson eyes staring down at him. And now he felt like he could still hear its roar echoing through his ears. Dipper inhaled deeply; he was still feeling agitated. "Why can't I sleep, for the love of-" He was going to curse, but was interrupted.

_"Hey, Pine Tree, how're you doing? The meeting will be in a few minutes. Are you ready yet?" _That was definitely Bill. Dipper groaned and buried his face in his pillow. His life was just shit right now.

"No. I feel shaken up because some weird creature almost ate me alive and now I can't get any sleep." The brunette explained. Then he realized that all he needed to do was think of an answer and Bill would hear it. He mentally face-palmed, and then he physically face-palmed, because Bill had just seen his mental face-palm. "Damn." He cursed lowly.

_"I think I can help ya', kid." _Bill said. Dipper raised an eyebrow, before a floating cloth with a strange smell was pressed against his mouth. Chloroform. He struggled and wriggled for air for some seconds, but it didn't work. After half minute, everything went black. Dipper opened his eyes in a heartbeat; his breath was faster than normal. "See? Better." He looked up and saw the floating triangle staring down at him. The brunette narrowed his eyes.

"You _drugged _me!" He barked. "That's… wrong!" _And illegal,_ Dipper thought. Suddenly something happened. His thought (about drugging others being illegal) echoed through the darkness. Then he remembered: that _was _the dreamscape. Bill was able hear his thoughts. But THAT was messed up.

"But it worked. You can thank me later." If Bill had a mouth, he'd be grinning right now.

"THANK YOU?!" Dipper asked, irritated.

"No problem, kiddo. Now let's find the others." Dipper groaned in frustration but decided to drop the subject. For now. He also wasn't going to talk about the creature he had seen in the forest. He wanted to discover what it was by himself. That would be a fun experience. And it would be funnier if he managed to tame the creature. Maybe having a pet monster wouldn't be so bad after all. But he'd have to hide if from his Grunkle Stan. Because he would try to use it as an attraction. Dipper was brought back to reality when he felt a tickling sensation. The world around him started to change.

Now they were on a forest. But it was grey. All colors were drained from the trees, ground and sky. That was definitely still the dreamscape. Just… creepier. "Why are we here?" Dipper asked suddenly. He was so distracted staring at the grey forest (scared) that he had almost forgotten why they were there. To meet other apprentices.

"This is a multiscape, kid." Bill explained. "A multiscape is like a dreamscape, but a shared one, so you can find and talk to other apprentices and their mentors." The triangle looked around, until he spotted a pink square somewhere not very far away. "Oh, there he is. I'm not surprised that he came earlier. Come, Pine Tree." Bill approached the floating square, and then Dipper noticed that next to him there was a black-haired boy standing and looking around (probably a little scared too). "Hey, Keeh."

"Oh, you're late, Bill." Keehnesi said, turning to meet the other dream-demon. He looked down at Dipper. "Ah, so that's your apprentice. Dipper _Mason _Pines, huh? You sound like a normal kid like everyone else." Dipper raised an eyebrow. He shouldn't be surprised that another dream-demon knew his name, because dream-demons can read minds. He still hated his name, however.

"Just for one minute. Stop being such a smart-ass." Bill rolled his eye.

Ignoring his mentor's arguing with Bill, the black-haired boy turned to Dipper. "Hi, I'm Asaph." He said, smiling. Dipper turned to him.

"I'm Dipper. Not Mason, not Pine Tree. Just call me _Dipper_, please." The brunette explained, somewhat exasperated. Asaph laughed lightly at his comment. He knew what it was being called by stupid nicknames. He'd already been called 'oil head' by Daniel and Danna once. That would've been funny if they hadn't decided to call him by that nickname for one whole year, and then it got boring. "Uh, by the way, have you ever been here before? That place creeps me out." Asaph shook his head negatively.

"No, it's my first time, too." He answered. Suddenly the two of them felt the ground shaking – as if an earthquake was happening (although it would be impossible). Bill and Keehnesi didn't seem so bothered as they continued with their bickering. Two children appeared in front of Asaph and Dipper in a thunder flash. Daniel and Danna. Asaph groaned as he and Dipper fell to the floor, startled. "Since when did this place become a theater for such a dramatic entrance?"

"Aww, didn't you like it? We've been planning this for weeks, dude! I mean, _I have_, all Daniel did was complain." Danna complained. "But, anyway… Oh, hey, you're the new kid?! Welcome to hell, dude!" She managed to say all that in one simple phrase, and Dipper raised an eyebrow as she patted him in the back. "My name is Danna, and that's my brother Daniel." She pointed to herself and her brother. "Oh, and he may be annoying sometimes, so be careful." She whispered on his ear. "So, what happens now?"

"Quit talking that loud, please. I'm not sorry at all to say that, but you're loud and annoying. Can't you lower your voice so you don't look like you have a megaphone instead of vocal cords?" Daniel narrowed his eyes; he was always criticizing his sister in hopes she would maybe listen to him and change, but she never did. Maybe this is why Danna called her brother _annoying_.

"Shut up." Danna turned to her mentor: the blue circle known as Beatrice. "Mentor Beatrice, when will the reunion start? I'm bored." She complains again.

"You complain about everything, Danna. I'll record your voice so one day you realize that you need to _close your mouth for three decades_." Daniel rolled his eyes. "But that's a good question. Where are Mister Bill and Mister Keehne- Oh…" The red-haired dream-demon could do nothing else but stare at the two mentors who were arguing with each other. Beatrice went to them and kicked Keehnesi in the head – well, _supposedly _his head.

"Did you _need _to do that?" Keehnesi asked as he rubbed the back of his head – wherever it was –, where Beatrice had kicked him. The blue circle rolled her eye.

"Yes, your apprentices are watching." Beatrice pointed to Asaph and Dipper. "Now quit acting like brats and START THIS DAMN REUNION!" She roared. Bill backed off, while Keehnesi didn't move. He just stared at her for some seconds before turning to the four kids.

"Alright, the four of you, listen. As some of you know, the dream-demons were created from time and space. We used to be the rulers of Earth until…" Danna groaned as Keehnesi started, for the hundredth time, one of those boring stories about the dream-demons' origin.

"That's so boring…" Daniel shot her a glare, but then thought he could get some advantage with this.

"Hey, Danna, if you are so bored, then how about a bet?" He whispered, smirking.

"Whatever. What kind of bet?" She asked, feeling interested.

"If you don't complain for one whole class, which is this one, I'll do whatever you ask for a day." Danna smirked at the proposal. Her brother extended his hand to her. "Deal?"

"Deal." She shook Daniel's hand.

"…And then the humans came and sent some of us to the Tartarus, as they thought we were evil and would hurt them. To survive, we consume the deprived souls of some useless humans and make deals with them…" Danna felt like her head would explode at any minute like an atomic bomb.

"I feel like I'm going to explode, but I can't complain! Guys, complain for me!" She orders. The others raise an eyebrow.

"Since when have we become your servants?" Daniel deadpanned.

"Since I became the alpha sibling. Now, please, make him shut up." Danna froze as she heard Keehnesi clear his throat. She slowly turned her head to meet him in the eye. "Uh, hi…" She said, forcing a smile. Now, all she wanted to do was run away.

"Well, as I was saying before being _interrupted_, today you'll start one of your main lessons for being a demon: you'll be discovering your animal forms." The pink dream-demon, Keehnesi, shape-shifted to his human form. He looked down at the four apprentices who were exchanging glances right now. Nervousness was consuming them. "That might sting a bit at first, but you'll get used to it. The animal forms do not collide with your personality, they have already been chosen since you were born and according to your signs. Just look at me." Everybody stared at the pink-haired man. Keehnesi closed his eyes (remembering that now he is a human he has two eyes) for a brief moment before opening them again. They were crimson red. And that was creepy.

His whole body was starting to change.

At first, his skin was slowly becoming fur. His nose and mouth had started to form a snout, and they all could see two small elevations on his head (or, more specifically, on his hair). Those elevations turned out to be ears. Dog ears. His nails were getting sharper, just like his teeth. Dipper blinked, he knew which animal Keehnesi was turning into. Finally, the demon's animal form was complete. And Dipper found out that he was right. Keehnesi was a wolf. "This is how you turn into your animal form."

"Cool!" Asaph muttered excitedly. Beatrice and Bill looked at each other, and they shape-shifted to humans as well. But their human forms didn't last long as they started to reveal their animal forms. Everybody's eyes widened. They were… _wolves_. "Is this some weird coincidence?" He asked out loud. Beatrice and Bill looked at each other in their wolf forms and sniggered.

"Not quite. I think it's normal… for siblings." The four kids froze.

"**SIBLINGS?**" They "practically" shouted.

"Isn't it obvious?" Bill asked, approaching them. "But let's focus on what really matters. Just do what I tell you." Keehnesi moved to his _brother_'s side, but didn't say anything. "First, close your eyes and focus." The students complied. "Now, think of something that makes you relax, like a calm stream or a quiet forest." Dipper started to think of a calm forest with bunnies and raccoons, but suddenly he thought of the monster, roaring at him. All he thought about was when the monster disappeared all of sudden. He opened his eyes and gasped quietly. Sighing, he closed his eyes again, and tried to focus. He deleted the monster from his mind. The monster _didn't exist_. Not anymore. He thought of a calm lake. That calmed him down for some time. He felt his whole body tickle.

_Maybe that's normal… _He thought, trying to calm himself down. He felt himself getting smaller, and his clothes slipping out of his body. "Great! You can open your eyes, now." Dipper opened his eyes slowly, and tried to adjust his sight by blinking. He looked at his side. Asaph's animal form was great: a white tiger, with brown stripes, though Asaph had a kitten-appearance. The siblings, Daniel and Danna, were foxes. Orange fur, large tail, pointy nose and ears and black paws. Asaph knew that, even though Keehnesi said that the animal forms didn't match with the demon's personality, it matched their personalities very well – sly and tricky. Dipper wanted to look at himself, but that sounded impossible.

"What do I look like?" Asaph asked.

"Like a white tiger." Dipper answered. "Danna and Daniel are foxes." He said, staring at Daniel and Danna as the twins looked at themselves and each other. _At least I remember their names_, he thought. "But… what about me?" Asaph looked at Dipper for a moment, as if trying to recognize what kind of animal he was. Asaph didn't say anything, but suddenly a mirror appeared in front of him — someone must have summoned it, probably Asaph. Dipper just looked at himself, and saw the reason why Asaph didn't say anything to him. He was covered in light-brown fur and his clothes were now too small for him. Only his pine tree hat fit his head. He was…

…A wolf.

* * *

**A/N: HALLO!**

**Sorry, sorry, sorry and sorry that I took so long! That chapter just took me 3 days to finish, but since I was lacking creativity, it took almost 2 weeks to think of something. Aaah, everybody got the first two questions wrong! Except for "nelqpten12". Congratulations, you got the first answer correct. Keehnesi, Bill and Beatrice are siblings, YAY! I'd given you a hint about that last chapter, did I not? With 'Family reunion', the title? Ok, I think I should put easier easter eggs. **

**NOW the cover matches the story! As for the explanation, remember what Keehnesi said? That the animal form doesn't match the personality? This is why Dipper is a wolf. But whatever... Now, more questions!**

**(1) What is the mysterious creature in the forest?**

**(2) What will happen now that the apprentices know their animal forms?**

**(3) Were you suspicious about the mentors being siblings?**

**That's all for today! I dunno when I'll post again, but I'll try my best to keep updating as fast as I can. Somehow, this chapter is bigger than usual. I guess I put all my imagination in here. Will Dipper be surprised or not? Anyway, keep reading! And please review!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	5. Episode 5

**Episode 5: Just like animals.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

Dipper analyzed his new body carefully. He had two small dog-shaped ears on each side of his head, which were disturbingly moving at different angles according to the sounds they captured. He was, apparently, half his original height in this new form, covered in medium dark-bisque fur.

For some unknown reason, his hair had flicked from its original brown to a dark blue, with some strands of hair blocking his view. His clothes were too small for him, and were even slipping out of his _body_ – his shorts were a good example. Only his pine tree hat fit his head. Dipper thought that there was nothing stranger than the blue hair when he looked at his own eyes…

They were **yellow**!

He had been so occupied analyzing his body that he had forgotten his own eyes! He had so many questions about the eyes' color: how did that happen? Why? His confusion turned into anger, as he turned to face his 'mentor', Bill Cipher. "Bill, I want an explanation! Why is my hair blue? Why are my eyes yellow?! Answer me!" Dipper was almost barking, like a _dog_. Bill rolled his eyes (as he was on his wolf form) and went to try to calm down his apprentice.

"Yesh, relax, kid. Having your body change a little after the _transformation_ is normal." The golden wolf explained, emphasizing the word 'transformation', tail wagging, either as a warning to lower his voice tone or to emphasize his apparent cheerfulness. "Your hair is blue because your pine tree hat may have affected it, the same thing happened to Am— uh, anyway... Now, about your yellow eyes… I have no idea." Dipper's jaw could've dropped to the floor if it was physically possible.

"What do you mean 'you have no idea'? You're a dream demon! You know everything!" He practically yelled. No, he _really _yelled that. Danna was stifling her laugh, whilst Daniel was giving her a look that should've made her stop, while hitting her constantly with his tail (definitely purposefully), but it just made her want to laugh even more. Asaph was trying to hear the conversation better, although Dipper's yells were making it easier. The siblings' discussion was the real problem when it came to the eavesdropping.

"Well, I know _lots of things_ about the humans and their world. I'm not as smart about the demon realm as my smart-ass brother here." Bill then gesticulated to Keehnesi, whose left eye was twitching in annoyance – that sounded like a warning to Bill. Yet, the golden wolf ignored that point and turned to Beatrice. They seemed to share a thought whilst exchanging glances, as they nodded to each other. The blue – almost grey – fur-covered wolf turned to the four kids-now-animals.

"Well, I think that, now that you know your animal forms, you're ready for your first mission." She explained. Danna and Daniel had stopped their bickering to look at her. "After discovering your animal transformations, you shall go to the forest to train with your new forms; take is as a field trip, if you want to make this a little less dangerous — that training will help you develop your walking abilities and perhaps will help with your teamwork and cooperation, since certain people need it." She eyed Danna and Daniel, as the former didn't seem to understand the passive-aggressiveness whilst the latter definitely did. "However, that won't be a normal training like always. It's a test. Today you'll fight a strong creature that no human has had the honor, or _luck_, to see before."

A few images floated in front of the four apprentices — which made some of them back off in surprise and others wonder if they would also learn how to do that later on—, revealing something shocking. A shadow with wings and blood-red eyes was roaring, flying through the forest of Gravity Falls, smashing whatever was in its way and attacking the animals, not letting any survivors behind. "The Black Wyvern." Dipper's eyes widened.

"That was the creature I saw on the forest earlier!" He blurted out before he could stop himself. Dipper mentally scolded himself for revealing that secret so soon, but he felt like he needed answers. "I-it attacked me when I was walking through the forest, and then mysteriously disappeared." _So it's a wyvern… _Dipper thought whilst narrowing his eyes. Beatrice nodded at him in acknowledgement.

"Well, now it's time to go." Said Beatrice as the images faded in a blue mist. "Good luck. And you cannot change your appearance until you've defeated the Wyvern, as we've put a spell on you that prevents you from doing so; you can try, but we doubt you'll be successful. It won't take long until you get used to your new forms, so don't worry. Well, that's all. Again, good luck to all." And then the world around the four apprentices started to spin, until they blacked out completely.

**_…_**

When Dipper opened his eyes, he couldn't feel the warmth of his bed. Instead, it was replaced with the coldness of the hard ground under him. The brown wolf stood up and looked around. They were at a forest, but it had colors, which meant he wasn't on the multiscape anymore. Then, he looked at himself. He was still on his wolf form. Beatrice had told them that they couldn't transform back until they had defeated a wyvern roaming around the forest, so he should start looking for it. Until he remembered something: the others!

He stood up – losing some of his balance until he could adjust himself to walk in four legs, or paws – and looked around. And there were they, fallen on the floor as if they were sleeping; and they were, indeed. Dipper focused a little, and tried to think of a bucket with cold water. He was never taught how to summon things, like Asaph and Bill, but he had to try.

He focused on what he wanted – the bucket with cold water — he focused on that, and that only. Suddenly, in a yellow aura, said bucket magically appeared and immediately fell on top of its victims, with the loud sound of water hitting the ground, making Dipper lose his concentration. The water slipped out on the other three apprentices-turned-animals, but the bucket fell specifically on Danna's face – that would've been funny if it didn't hurt. She stood up quickly and shouted in frustration.

"Why am I wet? WHY CAN'T I SEE ANYTHING?! I'M BLIND, HELP ME!" And then a fox-looking Danna ran around, forgetting why they were there and that she was now a fox. In fact, Dipper was surprised that she could even run perfectly although she had been a fox for the last 5 minutes. She then hit a tree, which knocked the bucket off her head. Danna winced at the light hitting her eyes, trying to adjust her sight. "I can see again? I'M CURED!" With this random sentence, she ran around like a maniac, seemingly enjoying being able to see again.

"Stop acting like you use drugs for the tenth time this month." Asaph snapped lightheartedly, and then he turned to Dipper. "What was that for?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at the wolf and then shaking his whole body to make it less wet. Surprisingly it worked — he always thought that was something only naturally-born animals could do but perhaps he was wrong. His fur was still wet, unfortunately, but he managed to lessen the 'damage' of it. Before Dipper could give an answer, he spoke again: "Ah, this is the forest where the wyvern is, right? Gravity Fills? I'm awfully bad at remembering names when I'm partially _wet_." Asaph said while looked around. Dipper noticed that Asaph wasn't from that place, for sure. The boy would be able to know the town's name if he was. He did have a Canadian accent, or, if not, managed to mimic one perfectly. Dipper shook his head.

"It's Gravity _Falls_, but that was a close shot." He corrected. Asaph didn't seem to care. Daniel opened his eyes slowly, and looked around. He didn't seem to mind the wet fur and his sister praying for the sky about weird and random subjects. He had seen her doing that before, and that seemed to be normal. At least it _seemed _to be to _him_.

"Ugh, everything hurts." The orange-colored fox stretched, as if he had slept on the cold floor all day, which was half-true. The most likely explanation was that they had been teleported to the forest in the middle of the night, as they could already see the sun rising on the horizon. "Where are we? And what time is it?" Daniel started questioning the others all of sudden.

"We're in Gravity Falls' forest. It's probably 7 a.m. or something." Dipper explained quickly. "We don't have time for questions. The faster we find that dragon, the faster we get out of here and out of these forms." Danna stopped praying and nodded, which meant she was listening to him. Daniel also nodded. Asaph did it as well, but added:

"Seems fine, but, for your information, wyverns aren't dragons. The difference between them and dragons are that wyverns walk on two legs instead of four, which is common on dragons. That's due to having their 'hands' to be attached to wings, as dragons have their wings attacked on their backs instead." The boy-turned-tiger explained. Dipper felt a headache coming. So it really _is _annoying when he corrects other people.

"I'm aware, but let's just find that creature and defeat it." Dipper had started to walk – managing to keep his balance – but stopped, and turned to the others. "Uh, you do _know _how to defeat a wyvern, don't you?" He asked, suddenly worried. If they didn't, _how _would they defeat the wyvern? Surely a cage wouldn't appear out of thin air and, if it did, it wouldn't be enough to stop the creature.

"No." The three of them answered with blank faces. Dipper could tell, by their voice tones, that they were also worried about what'd happen.

"So, we're technically stuck on those bodies forever?!" Danna started to freak out. "OH FUCKING _NO_! I DON'T WANNA EAT ANIMALS AND ROLL ON MUD AND HAVE TO LICK MY FUR TO CLEAN IT AND_—_" She could've screamed forever if Daniel hadn't pushed her to the floor, stopping her. "What was THAT for?! Can't you see I'm being dramatic here?!" She stopped screaming at herself to start screaming to her own brother. Emphasizing how angry she was, Danna made sure to show Daniel her pointy teeth, although se look didn't look as intimidating as Dipper was looking at that moment, as annoyance was consuming his patience.

"Stop freaking out." Daniel said calmly, trying to make Danna relax. That wasn't really working. "I'm always saying that you're loud, and I'm never exaggerating. You freak out for every little detail. This 'test' is to make us work together, SO PULL YOUR GODDAMN SELVES TOGETHER AND MOVE ON!" His lecture couldn't have worked better. Danna immediately stood up at hearing her brother scream the last part and that also startled Dipper and Asaph. Dipper thought Daniel was just as irresponsible as his sister, but now the wolf could say he wasn't. "Now, can we please move on? I'm getting really creeped out; I think these trees have _eyes_."

And then they started to walk around the forest, and also decided that it was better for everyone if they stuck together like glue. "Is Daniel always the opposite of Danna? She looks a bit… unstable." Dipper whispered to Asaph. Daniel and Danna were walking in front of them, and the female sibling looked like all she wanted to do was bite someone's shoulder off. "…" Dipper was about to say something else, but stopped himself from doing so.

"We all have different personalities and flaws. I'm not a specialist, but I can try to explain it to you; Danna is the group's troublemaker: she likes to pull pranks on everyone and she also panics easily. You can call her _drama queen_ if you want, she loves being called that; it's always been like that, as far as I can remember — I think we met like this, with one of her pranks, but I'm not sure. Daniel tries to control his sister, and you can say he's her tamer — we all call him that — because, if a prank sounds too absurd and prone to fail, he tries to make up her mind. He almost never succeeds, but it's worth a try. He's, like, his sister's guardian angel and brother at the same time."

Asaph stopped talking suddenly, as if trying to think of something about himself. "I'm kind of like the leader of this group, or that's how I see myself. But you can also call me the walking Wikipedia if you don't like that title. I try to control them and order them around, but I'm not so sure if it really works. Sometimes they listen to me, and sometimes they don't. You can say I put order to this zoo. Literally." Dipper smiled.

"Sounds like you have a lot of fun together." The blue-haired wolf said, smiling. He was still surprised with everything that had happened to him lately: he had made a deal with Bill, he became the demon's apprentice and now was walking as a wolf through the town's forest chasing a wyvern. That sounded like a fairytale (or a terror tale) and, if he told anyone, that person would laugh at him and tell him that this is ridiculous. Then, at thinking about wolves, he looked at himself. He was getting used to walking on all fours.

That was why Beatrice and the others had sent them to their first mission on the same day of their animal transformations: to get used to their animal forms while working together to defeat a creature that sounds dangerous and mysterious. Dipper could understand now.

"What does it feel being a half-demon like us?" Asaph asked all of sudden. Dipper stopped on his tracks and looked at the white young tiger as if he had gone crazy. Half-demon? Where had he gotten that idea? Wait— they were half-demons? They didn't seem to be that bad... Was it because he attended the event where the pink demon, Keehnesi, explained about the dream-demons' origin and perhaps they thought he was also included? His powers were possible because they were on the dreamscape, if he recalled correctly, and thus, it was possible. Dipper tried to be as gentle as he could about the subject.

"Oh, I'm not a half-demon. I'm a human." He explained softly. Asaph narrowed his eyes and shook his head, almost as if in disbelief.

"No, you can't be. Humans don't have the powers that Halflings have. Halflings, or Demonlings, are half-demons, the children of demons and humans. How do you think you are able to transform into an animal and still keep it that way in real life without transforming back? My mentor has said that to me: if you can levitate and summon items whilst being awake, or use any of your powers at all, then you're either a demon or an angel, or something else; that is because we're only _half_ dream-demons, and so we have control of the physical world as well, instead of only the dream realm, since we are physical beings and not beings made of energy like our mentors. Believe me: you smell like a demon, so you must be one." Dipper looked at Asaph for a few seconds, before closing his eyes shut and concentrating: his mind went blank, and he had only one objective; levitate — just like Bill had taught him. He was praying it didn't work, it _couldn't_ work. Soon he couldn't feel the floor under him, and opened his eyes.

He was levitating a few centimeters from the floor. With wide eyes, the boy fell to the floor, impressed, losing all his focus as he fell on all fours on the ground. After all, how could he focus while discovering _that_? He had learned a new thing that day: he **wasn't **human. Or wasn't _half _human. What was the difference? He could be the child of any demon in the underworld (or that's how he thinks it is called), or the child of any angel — most likely a demon, like Asaph said. Why did that matter? He wanted to wake up from that dream; he wanted it to _be_ a dream.

He wanted to wake up on his bed in the attic and realize he had never made a deal with Bill Cipher and go back to his normal life, hunting monsters and playing around with his sister. "I know it's confusing." Asaph said, trying to comfort the golden-eyed boy. "But we can't always_—_" He bumped on Daniel, who had been standing there for a few minutes staring at something that looked either too scary or impressive.

It was a cliff. Daniel and his sister had been staring at a cliff, which meant that was the end of their track — there was no other way around. Daniel analyzed the cliff carefully, as if trying to think on the best way to go to the bottom of it without breaking his neck. "That's so high…" He muttered, impressed and scared at the same time. "I wonder how much pain someone must feel if he falls from here…" Danna could be seen with shining eyes and a big grin to match as her tail wagged cheerfully, revealing that she was plotting something.

"There's only one way to find out." Daniel turned to her in worry, almost reading her mind. "Have a good landing." And then she pushed him off the cliff. After bumping on a few trees and such, he landed on the floor covered in scratches and some bleeding wounds. "SO, DID IT HURT?" Danna shouted from the top of the cliff. Daniel felt his rage building.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?!" He shouted back. Dipper and Asaph could've face-palmed if that was physically possible. _Why do I feel that I should've brought earmuffs? Where can I buy them at this time of the day? _Dipper thought as he sighed. However, one loud roar echoed through the forest, making the pine trees shake and the ground tremble. Dipper's ears moved frantically; he could recognize this roar from miles away.

"Guys" He said. "We've found our target."

* * *

**A/N: Hi... *avoids pebbles***

**I know I've been missing for... Uh, I dunno. Since I don't have any other interesting subject to say here, let's answer the questions: (1) A Black Wyvern. Mythology too much? Maybe. (2) They'll defeat the wyvern! Yay! Coincidence? I THINK NOT! Yeah... (3) Honestly, no I wasn't. I didn't know anything! JK. I think I've never told you all my gender, even though it's a little obvious. OK, new question:**

**(1) What is Awakened Niwana's gender?**

**That's all, I think...? But I don't care, I hope you like this chapter. Dipper is half-demon! Ooh, things are getting interesting, aren't they?**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	6. Episode 6

**Episode 6: Black Wyvern.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

Half of Dipper's mind told him to run away as fast as he could and pretend nothing had ever happened; the other half told him to continue. He chose the latter.

Why that? After reaching the bottom of the cliff – winning, of course, some scratches as a prize for being 'the stupidest kids of the year' – the roars got louder and scarier, and they were also incessant. Upon hearing the third roar, Dipper knew he couldn't handle it anymore. It was like the creature was _begging _for attention, wanting the apprentices to find it as fast as they were able to. At least the roars could indicate where the wyvern was, at all, but it was all so annoying that Dipper felt like exploding right now. Any creature was welcome to rip his ears off his head, Dipper wanted to welcome them at this point.

His ears were aching, as he was now a wolf and his ears were pretty sensible to the faintest sound. He could even hear the squirrels' footsteps from far away, as well as the birds' flap of wings. Asaph wasn't bothered at all, Daniel was somehow trying to put up with his sister who was singing 'Shake it off' on an infinite loop (his left eye was twitching in a rhythmic, though disturbing, way). Dipper wouldn't even believe in how his own throat would hurt if he tried to do that. Danna didn't seem to be affected by anything, and was even a little optimistic, much like Mabel would be.

Upon thinking about Mabel, Dipper looked down – he had almost forgotten about her. But the deal he had made was for her. It was to keep her safe, and to save her from everything; from Bill Cipher. She would understand, wouldn't she? Of course, they were siblings. They were twins, and best friends. Everything would be ok, wouldn't it? Of course it would.

"For how long have we been walking?" Asaph asked all of sudden. Dipper had been asking himself that too, and he knew the answer.

"We've been walking for 5 "Shake it off" replays." He answered with an amused tone, but with a straight face. Asaph and Daniel sniggered quietly while Danna didn't even bother looking at them; she just kept singing her song. "And that's basically 15 minutes." He decided to add, just in case people didn't know what he was talking about. This was like a dream-nightmare – a dream because he finally got the chance to meet new people who were cool and funny, like Wendy's friends, and a nightmare because he still had a deal with Bill Cipher.

"My legs hurt." Danna answered, finally stopping singing for once.

"We've barely started walking." Daniel answered her, looking slightly surprised as his sister hadn't complained for the past 15 minutes due to having herself busy with her own song. He was kind of relieved, though, because his twin had finally stopped singing that annoying song. At first it seemed like a good song – it was a shame that Danna had ruined another good song. Danna shot him a glare of indignation.

"My legs are short. I have the right to feel tired." She retorted. Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Sure you do."

Suddenly, another roar echoed through the forest and peeked through Dipper's ears like sharp knives. The wolf bent down and held his ears against the ground in an useless effort to muffle the sound. When it was over, Dipper stood up and tried to make his ears stop hurting. They had to put an end to this. And fast. "Let's go, it came from there." The light brown wolf said, pointing to a clearing at the end of the forest.

The four apprentices ran – against Danna's wishes – as fast as their legs would allow them to. When they reached the clearing, there was nothing there, just a few flowers. However, at distance, the wolf could immediately recognize the flowers due to his great hunting-animal sight. Dipper, who was in front of them all, immediately stopped; the rest did the same. "Why did you stop?" Asaph asked. He was trying to look what was bugging the brown-furred wolf by peeking through his shoulder. Immediately, the white tiger found out the problem. "Those are…"

"Yes." Dipper answered. "_Adehnias_, the worst type of flower you can think of." Dipper turned to his comrades, and narrowed his eyes. "One simple touch and you're dead." Everybody fell silent. Asaph seemed to recognize those types of venomous flowers, as he could recognize an Adehnias.

"But they're so pretty!" Danna argued, mesmerized by the flowers' movement due to the wind. "I'm sure you're misunderstanding it for another ugly flower. I'm going there and pick some to make my ex-boyfriend jealous." Daniel's eyes widened and he grabbed Danna's tail with his mouth. She yelped. "Ouch! What are you-"

She was interrupted by the sound of a creature flying. It was an American Dipper. The bird's left wing accidentally touched one of the flower's petals and it a few milliseconds it fell dead on the clearing. Daniel let go of Danna, who was staring at the flower field with wide eyes and hung open mouth. "Still wanna go there?" Asaph asked with a smirk.

"Nah, I'm fine." Danna answered. Dipper sighed in relief; at least the dead bird managed to make up her mind. He shuddered after realizing that the bird that died was an _American Dipper_.

Their single moment of peace vanished into thin air as they heard a loud roar, louder than everything they had ever heard in their lives. The four of them looked up and saw a black, tall shadow land into the clearing, making the entire field and, eventually, everything around it tremble. "It's that dragon!" Danna exclaimed. Her loud tone made the wyvern look at them. And Dipper saw them again: the crimson eyes, as red as his own blood. The thought made him want to vomit. Unexpectedly, the wyvern tried to hit the four kids with its tail. They all avoided by jumping at the same time, although some trees didn't survive.

"How do we defeat that?!" Daniel asked, exasperated. He didn't want to die.

"We have to go to the clearing and hit it on its weak point, the nape of the neck, it's one of the most sensitive points of that creature's body. It's a shortcut to the brain and full of important veins. Kind of like our own neck." Asaph answered. He had read mythological books once, and knew about the dragons and their weaknesses and strengths. "But the flowers… If we barely touch them we die. Dipper, do you have any ideas?" The wolf was about to reply when he was interrupted by an angry Danna. Also, he was a little happy for that because his mind was literally blank and that would buy him time to think of a plan.

"Why don't you ask _me _for any ideas?" Danna narrowed her eyes in indignation. Asaph rolled his eyes at her, showing how _useful _she was being for the team.

"Fine, miss _drama_. Do _you _have any ideas?"

"Uh… No." She answered finally.

"Thought so…" Asaph and Daniel quoted at the same time, rolling their eyes. Ignoring the three of them plus the wyvern, Dipper looked around, trying to think of a plan that could work. Then his eyes widened, he was having an idea, but had to formulate it. One of the pine trees that the wyvern had knocked down was leaning against another one, which was still standing somehow. It was almost like a stair to the other tree. _Of course! _Dipper exclaimed inside his mind. He turned to the others who were in the middle of a fight.

"Guys-"

"You're an idiot, Danna! How did you even manage to get yourself a mentor? Oh, right. Because I had to _beg _to mentor Beatrice for you to join me!" Daniel snapped.

"It's not my fault that you were an idiot to do so." Danna retorted, rolling her eyes.

"You two should be more responsible and get some brains on a garage sale!" Asaph said.

"GUYS!" Dipper shouted, immediately making the other three apprentices look at him. They were really mad at each other. "I have an idea, but we need each other to make it work. So let's work together on this." The three of them looked at each other before huffing and looking the other direction, revealing to Dipper that they weren't going to give in so easily. "Come on, guys, we have to work together if we want to ever get out of these bodies!" The others didn't seem to cave in; Dipper waited until he couldn't anymore. "I'm leaving you all like this forever." And he stood up, preparing to leave, when he heard a voice.

"I'm sorry, guys. I've been rude." Daniel said, lowering his head in shame.

"I'm sorry too; I should've been more useful and all." Danna confessed, which made the others' eyes widened, since she wasn't the apologizing type.

"I'm sorry to you all. I'm just an idiot who thinks he's better than the others…" Asaph sighed and shook head, like the rest of them. Dipper spun on his heels and smiled.

"Okay, then." Dipper then joined them. "I have a great idea, but we need each other to make it work." They all nodded, ready to hear what the brown-furred wolf was going to say. "The trees are the answer." Just as he was about to explain this sentence, Danna's face lightened up as she quickly cut him off. She felt like she just had the greatest idea of all the ideas of the world; coming from Danna, though, they couldn't expect anything else than something like this:

"I get it! We're gonna get the trees and hit the wyvern with them!"

"How will we do that without stepping on the field?" Daniel pointed out.

"I think you're forgetting a big point: we're **_demons_**. We can do anything!" Danna smirked at her explanation of how things would work her way. Unfortunately, things weren't always her way.

"We're **half **demons, and we can die too." Asaph explained, and then pointed to Dipper with his tail. "Let him finish."

"Well, as I was saying, we are very agile on those forms, since we've gotten used to them now, right?" They all nodded.

"We still need some time to get used to walking in all four legs, but I think we can handle it." Asaph explained with a smile.

"My plan is to climb the trees and use them as a distraction to the wyvern. They are very weak against demon magic, and all we need to do is shoot some flames at it and it'll get weaker until it faints – or dies, which is highly unlikely since our magic isn't that strong. My plan is that, while two of us are running in circles between the trees and distracting the wyvern, the other two will be hidden – although still moving so the wyvern won't notice where you are – and shooting flames at it. Do you all get it?" The three of them smirked and nodded. Danna was more excited than the others; she would prove them that she was really useful.

"After four shots from each of us, we'll switch turns. I'm coming first to shoot, who's coming with me?"

"I am!" Danna promptly answered. It was finally her time to shine, and she was sure that, because she answered first, Dipper wouldn't decline her offer. The wolf rolled his golden eyes and nodded. "Come on, we have no time to waste." And then she started to climb a tree with her own claws, totally forgetting she could levitate like any normal demon. Dipper levitated, with some difficulty, though, and stopped on a branch next to her. She blushed (which wasn't visible due to her red-orange fur) and rolled her eyes. "Oh, right; levitation, I almost forgot."

"Hurry up. You two, go on!"

Asaph and Daniel nodded, whilst they levitated towards the nearest tree they could find. Daniel sloppily grabbed a branch with his tail and threw it to the wyvern, trying to catch its attention. It worked, and the wyvern roared to them. Not letting panic settle in, they started to run in circles to the right, while Dipper and Danna started to run to the opposite direction, which was the left. While the wyvern was trying to catch Daniel and Asaph with its mouth and tail, Dipper and Danna were running and ready to do their part.

Danna opened her mouth (since she couldn't use her paws) and formed a small orb of energy, surrounded by black flames. Then, she shot it at the wyvern, which grunted and turned to her; fortunately, he couldn't find the halfling since she was running in circles and well-hidden, unlike Daniel and Asaph.

"It's working." Dipper said. "Let me try." He opened his mouth and concentrated. An orb surrounded by yellow flames formed on his mouth, and he let go, hitting the creature's neck. It roared, instead of grunting like it did before. That was because Dipper had hit it on its weak spot. The creature used its tail to attack them (Dipper and Danna), and hit the tree that the two of them were. Danna luckily fell onto another tree, though she went unconscious for a few seconds, while Dipper was going to land directly on the field of venomous flowers.

All he did was close his eyes and wait for the end.

* * *

**A/N: Hi... *avoids pebbles and anvils* Sorry, but school took most of my pasttime, specially when I had to study so much. Fortunately, I think I went well on most of my avaliations. BTW, my keyboard is broken. Now that explanations are done, I shall tell you the ANSWER TO THE QUESTION!**

**I'm a... ... ... ... Girl! Congrats! Most of you got it right! Although my name wasn't a tip guys, I got the name 'Niwana' from 'Nirvana' (kinda) so it's a normal name ok?**

**BTW(2) I wrote the ENTIRE chapter listening to Counting Stars from OneRepublic, and my God, I'm addicted. If there was a drink called Counting Stars, I'd drink it. Hope that music doesn't affect the chapter's plot... Nah.**

**_Awakened Niwana, off._**


	7. Episode 7

**Episode 7: Dipper's Denial.  
****Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
****Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

Dipper was falling directly towards his imminent death. And he was coming closer to the field of venomous flowers, when one thought— no, one _name_ flashed through his mind: _Ariadne_.

The entire world stopped.

Dipper's eyes remained closed, preventing him from knowing what was happening outside, completely oblivious to his surroundings. If he had opened his eyes, Dipper would have averted them – which he obviously couldn't do, because the Adehnias had such a pretty movement within the wind that it was hypnotizing. He couldn't see, but he could feel and hear his surroundings — the wing hitting his face and delaying his fall, the screams of the others as they panicked. And he felt something inside him snapping. Something was wrong, out of place. He could hear the wyvern's incessant roars echoing through his mind and coming back, turning into reality, as well as Asaph's calls for him.

Opening his eyes, Dipper discovered he wasn't on his way towards the flower field anymore.

He was_ flying_ towards the sky. **_FLYING?! _**Dipper shouted inside his mind; the words echoed so loudly he was sure he was going to go deaf on this one. He looked behind his back and discovered he had **wings**. One of them was colored in a scary pitch black, while the other was in a soothing white color. That was certainly strange: _where _had they come from? How? Why? Dipper thought nothing could get stranger after being turned into a wolf and stuck like that until he finished a stupid quest. That was until he discovered he was some kind of magical winged wolf or something.

Suddenly everything went black for one moment; Dipper could see nothing. He could sense he was still flying, although his sense of sight simply disappeared. However, he saw a light, and all colors seemed to have faded as black became white. The name echoed on his mind again: _Ariadne_. Opening his eyes, he discovered one thing: those wings weren't _his_. And he _wasn't_ controlling them. Someone else was. How was that possible? How could he have discovered that? He didn't have the answers he sought, only a sense of familiarity; he felt it deep inside. If it were any other day Dipper would have surely laughed at how stupid everything was, but not now. He was caught off guard when the wings headed directly to where the wyvern was. It was opening its mouth at him, as if wanting to eat him whole.

Dipper tried to stop those wings, or head another direction, but nothing worked. He wanted to control himself, but couldn't. He didn't know if it was the nervousness that made it impossible for him to control the wings or if there was someone else behind all this, but, seeing as the wings weren't his, perhaps it was the latter. This sounded very much like a story, a simple tale – the only difference was that Dipper didn't know if that story was a fairytale or a horror movie script. Suddenly, Dipper bumped against something hard. He opened his eyes quickly.

He was on the black wyvern's back, and, by its glare, the dragon-like creature didn't seem very happy by his presence, or the idea of being mounted, like a horse. It shook its whole body, trying to get Dipper down, unable to reach him by other means, but he had already nailed the wyvern with his sharp claws, preventing him from falling. Then he noticed he was a few centimeters close to the creature's neck. The brunette calmly crawled to the wyvern's neck, trying to shake that strange feeling that seemed to be made of a mix of fear and bravery, but was caught off guard one more time as the creature shook its body again, making Dipper almost fall.

Once again, Dipper thanked his claws as he managed to nail them on the creature's jaw, in which the dragon responded with a grunt of pain. Something told Dipper to do something quickly because his nails were slipping and his wings didn't seem like they'd budge anymore; his eyes widened when they shone in a white light and then disappeared. That was it, his life was over. Soon he would fall and die; he definitely didn't want that ending for his life, though this all would end and he wouldn't suffer anymore, if that happened….

No, what was he thinking? That would be considered suicide, and he definitely didn't want that. Then the wyvern opened its eyes and flew as fast as it could, with Dipper still attached to its jaw and clinging to life. The brunette-turned-blunette closed his eyes and focused. _I need those wings, just one more time… _Nothing happened. He tried again, but this time he tried something else. _I need help… Ariadne… Whoever you are… _No, this was wrong, he couldn't trust a stranger with his safety, it was the first rule of when he came to Gravity Falls! Trust no one, he told himself repeatedly throughout the whole summer, but, once he mentally pronounced those words, Dipper felt a wave of safety rush inside his veins— he had no other choice but to trust Ariadne, whoever she was. Then, he hesitantly let go.

He knew she would save him.

Dipper was falling to the ground, but he wasn't worried. He trusted her; he trusted Ariadne, whoever she was, wherever she was, whatever she was. Then he felt a warm sensation on his back. He was heading to the clearing of venomous flowers, and their movement in contrast with the wind was almost hypnotizing and relaxing. Dipper didn't know why he was being such an idiot by doing this, but he closed his eyes, and once more the entire world stopped, as he seemed to be frozen in time. He knew it was time to say it.

_"I **trust** you, Ariadne." _He said out loud.

Dipper opened his eyes in a heartbeat. He was almost close to the field. However, when he was going to bump onto the ground, he flew directly to the horizon. Dipper peeked behind his shoulders and saw the same wings he had seen before. Dipper had never felt this confident before, it was almost like it wasn't him — like he was someone else... Someone he knew. _It's time to end this_, he thought. Dipper then flew as high as he could, and just then he noticed that he could now control those wings. Dipper knew that was the weirdest thing he had ever done: he was flying behind a wyvern with black and white wings, which he had gotten by trusting someone called Ariadne. However, he indeed trusted her. For a reason unbeknownst to him, he trusted her.

"Dipper, what are you doing?!" He heard Asaph and Daniel shout at him, but ignored them completely. His wings were fully opened, as if trying to help Dipper with his flight. Somehow, Dipper felt more intimidating this way— if this wasn't such a serious situation, he would've snickered; it was very pathetic that the only time he ever felt intimidating was when using someone else's power instead of his own. With the difference of weight, Dipper could have reached the wyvern easily, but the creature's wings were much bigger and, therefore, this made it easier for it to fly faster. Not worrying about this, Dipper revealed his sharp claws, ready to attack when needed. However, he waited.

He was waiting for something.

He was waiting for a signal.

_"Go." _Someone said inside his mind; that was exactly what Dipper wanted to hear.

He flew as near to the creature's neck as he could – and as fast as the wings allowed him to –, then slashed it with his claws. It didn't seem to work at first, since the dragon's scales seemed to protect its neck from any possible damage that would be deadly. However, Dipper couldn't be more wrong; and that was, for once, a good signal. It was like a jolt of electricity. The wyvern's grunts of pain and attempts to fly were no use — especially because the wings were attached to the neck by a number of nerves — and it fell towards its apparent death, on the clearing. The ground trembled for a few seconds, as if complaining about the creature's fall, but then everything returned to normal. The apprentices that were still on the trees hung on like their lives depended on it, not wishing to fall, especially on the clearing of all possible places to fall on.

Dipper flew to where his comrades were and, when he reached the floor, his wings disappeared in a quick jolt of light, leaving some sparkles floating around the air. It was weird, but strangely magical. Dipper didn't bother turning to the other three apprentices who were frantically calling for him; his vision was slightly blurry and he was dizzy, eyes somewhat glassy, and his back was still aching from the tremendous effort he had to make. He turned and faced the creature, as its eyes didn't open again, nor did it move or show any signs of life. However, Dipper could still feel the danger — after having spent quite a while in Gravity Falls, Dipper learned not to expect things to die so easily. He was awakened from his hypnotized state by Asaph, who nudged him with his tail. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Dipper asked, not taking his eyes off the wyvern; he knew it had been easy... _Way_ too easy. "It's just a stupid lizard with wings."

"Yeah, Asaph. When will you learn?" Daniel agreed, approaching them, and was ready to make a new comment about something. "It's just a stupid, gigantic, flesh-eating, blood-lusted, red-eyed deadly lizard with wings. How stupid is that?" Asaph rolled his eyes upon noticing Daniel's sarcastic comment. Dipper ignored both of them, focusing on the black wyvern's body (or, depending on its status, corpse). He wanted to notice the faintest movement, and the faintest sound, to know if the creature was alive or not.

If that was the case, he would react faster and kill the wyvern before it could gather enough energy to start a new fit.

He wanted to know where Danna was, and if she was alright, but that didn't matter right now. Yes, she was as well pulled far away by the wyvern's collision with a few trees nearby, but she was alright, he knew it. He hoped so.

"Dipper, I have to ask… How did you do that?" Asaph totally ignored Daniel and turned to the now-turned wolf. Dipper did not take his eyes off the wyvern's immobile body, but understood perfectly Asaph's question. And he'd been asking himself that as well. Dipper sighed, blinking tiredly – as he basically consumed his entire energy to follow the wyvern and attack it –, and shook his head, trying to wake up inside. Something that wasn't easy because fatigue was consuming him from inside out.

"I don't know. What do you mean, exactly?" He could be wrong. Asaph could be talking about how he slashed the dragon's neck with its thick and almost impenetrable scales, which wasn't actually a problem since wyverns don't have as much scales as the normal dragons, and their scales aren't as hard as a dragons'. Basically, their defense is low, although Dipper discovered their attack basis is _very_ high. And their speed too, because even being lighter than the wyvern, it was hard to reach it. Asaph rolled his eyes at Dipper's question.

"I'm talking about the wings that appeared on your back out of nowhere!" He argued. "I heard from mentor Keehnesi that you can just learn how to grow wings when you're on a higher level – more or less when you've completed 200 lessons –, which clearly hasn't happened to you." Asaph explained. This time, it was Dipper who rolled his eyes out of boredom. "Well, that is what he told me, because it takes too much energy to create wings and they are hard to remove as well."

Dipper looked at his own back. His wings had disappeared when the preteen had reached the floor, and that made Dipper wonder how they worked. Maybe if he focused, the wings would appear on his back again? Things actually weren't as simple as they looked, at least to Dipper.

"I really don't know what I did. It just _happened_. I can't believe in it either." Dipper answered vaguely._ It is funny how tables turn_, he thought, closing his eyes and contemplating the meaning of all this. He would protect his family from Bill; they would be safe, _they would be safe_, he continued chanting inside his head. Asaph either didn't understand the sarcasm or pretended he didn't. "Uh, don't you guys believe in miracles?" Dipper asked once he noticed Asaph's silence.,

"We're all demons; so, yes and no." Daniel answered directly. "I mean, it won't happen to us and all."

"Shut up." Dipper ordered, though it sounded more like a joke than a direct order; Asaph snickered, as everything went silent. However, Dipper felt something wrong. Just when everything was calming down for a little bit, the ground below them started to tremble, as if an earthquake was about to happen. The wyvern slowly stood up, as if nothing had happened to it at first. Its neck was bleeding lightly, but nothing too drastic. In front of Dipper's eyes, the scar healed itself quickly, something he definitely hadn't predicted.

Dipper's eyes widened as he backed away a few steps, being followed by Asaph and Daniel. The creature's blood red eyes scanned the area, and then stopped on Dipper and Dipper only. Its objective was clear now: Dipper was its target, and no one else. What could be worse than being a dangerous creature's only target? The boy froze, his muscles stiffened, and Dipper had to stifle a cry of terror upon noticing the wyvern's slits become even thinner, as if deciding how it would kill and eat him.

Quickly, but swiftly, the wyvern jumped as high as it could, and then aimed its claws at the blunette. Then, it opened its large wings and flew directly to where Dipper was standing, with such an impressive speed that it would be almost impossible to dodge it. Dipper then realized that he would be an even easier target if he just stood there instead of moving, so he immediately levitated to a tree at his left that was almost entirely covered in leaves, impressed with his level of concentration at this point, and how he did it so quickly. Maybe the adrenaline did help after all. The wyvern tried to search for him, but it was no use. Instead, it hit a few trees to the right and then flew to the sky in frustration.

A high-pitched, feminine scream followed after this, and it echoed through the clearing and Dipper's mind, causing his head to throb for a few seconds after it. Dipper's eyes widened even more upon recognizing the scream and from who it was. He teleported himself to the floor, carefully, and, along with Asaph and Daniel, shouted at the top of his lungs:

"DANNA?!"

* * *

**A/N: I'm really late with this chapter.**

**I'm sorry, really, I've been busy with LIFE. I've realized life's like a boarding game: it sucks. Well, not all boarding games suck, but _I _suck at them instead. Like monopoly. I honestly suck at everything that is equal to making money. I wish I could win money sleeping. I'd be rich. Well, today mom started giving me _"the talk"_. I was, like, "EW. Mom, no. Just... no". Yes, children, stop illuding yourselves thinking being a teen is aweasome BECAUSE IT'S NOT. I mean, I'm a teen but I'M SMALLER THAN LEVI! How is that possible? D:**

**About the chapter, yes, it's really confusing. But you'll understand on later chapters... OH NO, DANNA! Well, looks like the tables really turned now. Dipper, go save her! She's your OTP! No, wait. NVM. **

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	8. Episode 8

**Episode 8: Time for plan B.  
****Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
****Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

_"DANNA?!" _

Dipper barely had time to think twice before it happened: his wings had, somehow, appeared again, probably from his wish to now have them – this time he had full control of them. With a simple, but strong, flap of wings, he prepared to follow the wyvern and the girl/fox holding onto him. Dipper didn't know why he cared so much about Danna – she was just a girl, there were millions of them around the world. But Danna wasn't just a girl – she was his _partner_, and you don't leave your partners behind, no matter how annoying or stupid they are. Besides that, there was a high chance they needed all of their team members alive in order to be able to turn back into normal human beings. Not that he's calling Danna annoying or something, of course not… He just wish she would shut up sometimes, but that was beyind the point at this moment.

With the strength of the wind hitting his head, his hat fell from his head near Asaph.

Another high-pitched scream followed, this time it was because the dragon-shaped creature had changed its course and was now heading where Asaph and Daniel were – and Danna was either trying to warn them or was scared to hell — there was a strong chance it was both of the choices. Both of them were too shocked to move as they stiffened and their body froze; however, they could still talk. And their conversation wasn't one of the happiest – though it could be their last, of course.

"I-it's alive!" Asaph exclaimed; he was too impressed and scared to acknowledge the dangerous situation they both were in, seeing as both of them now were the wyvern's aims; that, and he couldn't move at all. They were trembling in fear, shock and many other mixed emotions they couldn't name. He felt like an old chair about to be sent to the dump, rotting and slowly being broken down and torn piece-to-piece. His fox-shaped partner, Daniel, wasn't that better, but still had that great sarcasm and passive-active voice of always.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Daniel piped up. Just when the wyvern was too close for their comfort and safety Daniel snapped and pushed Asaph out of the way. They landed on a bush, which was ironically soft enough for them to land without any harm. The wyvern, which had already prepared an attack, now couldn't find its targets and changed its course. "I'm sure you could've walked by yourself. Well, Daniel saves the day; again." Asaph rolled his eyes at his friend but let out a low chuckle. Daniel sometimes changed his attitude so much that it was hard to know his definite personality – maybe he was the 'normal guy'? Still, in that moment of terror he mantained his great sense of humor and sarcasm.

"That's a _very important _remark; however, Dipper is in danger. We should help him." Daniel nodded at Asaph's explanation.

"What do you suggest that we do?" He asked as they both stepped out of the bush.

"Remember the original plan? Let's keep doing it. At least it will buy Dipper some time." Asaph explained. However, Daniel still had one doubt.

"What if we hit Danna or Dipper?"

Everything went silent.

"We must stop asking ourselves 'what if' and go to battle." Grabbing Dipper's pine tree hat from the floor, Asaph used his own claws to climb the pine tree where Dipper once was – a tall one to his left. He had to continue Dipper's plan, because that was not only a good plan but it was the only plan they had, and the least they could do Asaph was too worried to focus on a plan, even if he was supposed to be the 'intelligent guy' or the group's 'leader'; at this point, he wasn't sure if he still wanted to be called that.

"Are you coming?" Daniel stopped for a moment. However, he smiled at his comrade and nodded – that would be exciting. He looked around and, after finally finding one spot he'd fit in, the fox jumped on a tree which was on his right; this tree was the opposite direction of Asaph's. Soon, the two of them were facing each other, ready to complete their mission. "Ready?" The young tiger-like apprentice asked, slowly sharpening his claws on the tree's bark.

"I was born ready." Daniel answered – if it was possible he'd give Asaph a smirk. They nodded to each other and, turning around, both started to run around the trees, no longer trying to use them as a camouflage. Dipper and Danna were in jeopardy; they didn't have any time to hide anymore. Their final mission was to defeat the wyvern – no matter what, at all costs. And they'd do this.

Daniel opened his eyes and focused with all his strength. A red sphere surrounded by energy formed, but it wasn't big enough. Daniel focused a little more and managed to make it bigger — he had learned that bigger was better, and more effective. Dipper and his sister would need all their strength to make it out alive from there. Daniel aimed – he couldn't risk hitting the two of them. Daniel was lucky he didn't have to wear glasses and that, after so many times practicing archery because of his father, his aim was almost perfect. Then, he let go, letting his attack cross the sky and go directly towards the wyvern.

Just then, he saw another sphere crossing the sky next to his. This one was completely white, with a few flames surrounding it. _Let's shoot them together instead of one at a time; the spheres will become more powerful if combined! _A voice rang through his mind. Daniel knew who it was from, and tried to reply. Running while focusing wasn't a good combination, but, somehow, the other apprentice managed to copy just fine, so he could do it as well.

_Right! _He nodded.

_You're free to do your own thing if you want to_, Asaph answered. Daniel smirked at that. He knew exactly what his comrade was talking about.

Quickly, but swiftly, the fox-shaped child jumped from one branch to another – disappearing almost completely from human sight – and then let his entire body glow in a glamorous yellow light that was almost impossible not to notice. Daniel was still running, but slower, until he stopped completely. Asaph frowned at first, but then understood what Daniel wanted to do with that.

"Watch out!" The wyvern had just shot a flame burst at a random direction, and it was apparently heading Daniel's direction, and he was still focusing on what he wanted to do. It was obvious that the light he emanated was attracting attention, maybe a little too much, but it would be worth it, wouldn't it? Suddenly Daniel opened his eyes in a heart's beat; both were as white as snow. The glow once surrounding his small body started to glow even more; Daniel was seemingly shining more than the sun itself, or that's the impression he left of Asaph who had to close his eyes as they were burning from the bright light.

When the burning beam was almost reaching him, his eyes started glowing yellow, with his body focusing its energy on that point, and then they shot a powerful beam that literally pulverized the small flaming orb and was aiming directly at the wyvern. Beatrice had taught him that trick when he asked for something else — he had practiced and perfected it for weeks in hopes to impress her, and he really did. He'd never seen Beatrice be prouder of him — hopefully that was a good thing. Dipper had already gotten Danna out of there, not surprisingly, and Daniel was glad because he wouldn't risk hitting his sister or him, at least.

At least, or hopefully…

Daniel closed his eyes when all they could hear was the painful, disturbing and agonizing scream of the beast before it disappeared completely within a mist of purple dust.

**…**

Dipper was forcing his wings to their limit, almost at the point of hurting — his backache had returned. He hadn't had them for too long, and without practice they were like useless branches. But he had to save his comrade, demon or not; human or not. At this point, Dipper didn't know if he was talking about Danna or himself. He still couldn't accept that deep down he was a demon, and that this information had been hidden from him for twelve years, especially by Bill. Danna, on other hand, had her eyes closed and was still screaming like a maniac; for no obvious reasons except that she was being kidnapped by a giant lizard. Well, **_t_****_hat_** was a good reason.

It simply looked like she wanted to catch someone's attention with all this loud screaming, though she had other reasons to do so. Dipper closed his eyes and focused: _Danna, stop screaming! I'm coming! _He said, hoping that Danna heard the message. Because even if he screamed at the top of his lungs she wouldn't listen to him, and that was his best chance to calm her down.

_Fine, just help me! I'm being KIDNAPPED here!_ The voice rang loudly through his head. Dipper wasn't surprised that Danna knew how to communicate by telepathy. It seemed like something common between demons; or between half-demons, at last. Dipper forced his wings a little more, and managed to reach the wyvern, right where Danna was. His back was already hurting and burning because of the pressure he was putting the wings into. Also, the wyvern's wings were bigger than his, which made it almost impossible to reach it; _almost_. The physics were against his favor, unfortunately.

Before he could say something, he noticed something attached to the wyvern's neck. It was a _chip_. Dipper analyzed it carefully, for one moment forgetting about everything happening around him. It was gray, but a dark gray, almost like a game cartridge, but different in a way. It could've been easily misunderstood for one of the wyvern's scales, but Dipper wasn't easily fooled — how come he hadn't seen it before when he attempted to kill the beast by slashing its neck? However, in a few seconds, he remembered his only purpose: save Danna. "JUMP, QUICKLY!" He shouted loudly, making the fox open her eyes. He didn't know why he had shouted, as he could telepathically tell that to her, but the heat of the moment was making the boy nervous inside. He was now forgetting how to do the most basic of things.

"Are you crazy? What if you don't catch me?!" Danna shouted nervously. Apparently, she also chose to shout instead of telepathically talk to him.

"You'll have to trust me." Dipper said sincerely.

Danna sighed, closing her eyes once more. Then, she loosened her grip on the wyvern's neck until she let go completely. Dipper didn't think it would be so easy to convince her; he thought it'd need a few more shouts or something like that. Everything happened quicker than both had imagined. He dove down to the clearing, trying to reach Danna. He had his wings closed, letting gravity do its job; though he was ready to open them at any minute.

He grabbed Danna's tail with his mouth, digging his sharp teeth into her flesh accidentally, though this was needed so she wouldn't slip out of his grasp. Dipper didn't bother being gentle, and didn't mind if it was hurting either. His top priority was to save her now. It was clear he was hurting her because of the multiple profanities she was screaming at this point and that he was trying to ignore. He opened his wings once again, and flew at the nick of time when they were almost touching the ground. Danna's nose almost touched one of the flowers; she was lucky that they finally flew out of there.

Throwing Danna to the air quickly so she was now on his back, Dipper flew to the ground just in time to hear a disturbing and agonizing cry, and turned around. Had Daniel and Asaph hit the wyvern or something while they were gone? Oh, yeah, he had almost forgotten about these two – which was weird since he had been gone for, like, five minutes. How did they beat the dragon so quickly? What had they done?

The wyvern was gone, and the clearing became surrounded by a mysterious purple dust that had a weird lavender smell – almost like the smell of the Adehnias flower, but sweeter and less… You know, _venomous_. But then something fell on his head, then on the floor. Dipper looked at it more carefully.

There, near his paws, was the chip that was once attached to the wyvern's neck; it didn't seem to have been damaged, even when Dipper hit the creature's neck in an attempt to kill it. Dipper narrowed his eyes to read what was written on it, because the purple dust was making it hard to see anything near anyone – even Danna and the pine trees seemed like mysterious shadows with this.

_A. Cipher._

"Bill." Dipper growled.

* * *

**A/N: Hi *avoids pebbles and anvils and all the shit* I can explain. Ok, I can't.**

**Actually I am doing well on my tests and so far no bad grades. Still, I can't enter that much on the internet because of the tests which are starting on june 15! Oh, my, I'm dead. And, yes, I'm horrible at describing action, but still, better than nothing.**

**_FYI_: The move that Daniel did before the wyvern's disappearance is called _Infernium_, and is an attack for newbies, but also used by masters and grown-demons sometimes. This moves consists in gathering the user's energy around its body, causing it to glow, and then focus it in one area of the body - most of the time, the eyes. Then the user liberates this energy in form of a beam that will shoot directly the target. The user shall become tired and unable to use the attack one more time after that.**

**Cool, huh? I made this up while in class out of boredom. It's good to know I'm using my intelligence for another purpose :) Well, I think this is all. Bye!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	9. Episode 9

**Episode 9: Questions without answers.  
****Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
****Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

"_Bill." Dipper growled._

Danna slowly approached the chip to read what was written on it. After reading the word _Cipher _she understood why Dipper was so angry, but couldn't see the point of it. He thought Bill had caused all of this, with Beatrice and Keehnesi's help . Maybe that was true, or maybe it wasn't — there wasn't many proof left except for the chip — because there was a high chance there weren't many people and demons around the world with the surname 'Cipher' that were willing to control a beast just for fun (although they were talking about the Ciphers, so it was slightly likely), but it could be just a misunderstanding, couldn't it? Maybe it was someone else, or maybe not, but why did that matter so much? The test was over and they managed to pass it, more or less. That was what truly mattered; they were alive, they were well and fine, no other major injuries except for a few scratches and some PSTD, but that was it.

_But_, Danna thought, _why would he do this?_ It was not usual for her to see the rational side of things, but she couldn't help but think of it. What would he accomplish doing this? And, more important, what was the "A" written in front of the name? The chip was so close, yet _so far_ from belonging to Bill; the only thing they had in common was the 'Cipher' part. "I knew it! I knew he was behind this…" Dipper bellowed, stomping one of his front paws on the floor. Then, something else fell on his head. But it was softer than the chip. This was his hat.

"You let this fall." Asaph said, smiling, from a tree, as he jumped next to them; he had been observing them but just now decided to speak up. "Seems like everything's crazy here. We should go back to the dreamscape and report this to our mentors." Dipper sighed; he didn't want to even _look_ at the chip for one more second, but everyone needed to know about what he had just discovered.

"Come here, you two." He said to Daniel and Asaph. Both exchanged worried glances before approaching the boy and the chip he had in front of him. "Read this." Dipper said, motioning to the chip with his head. He took a step back, allowing both of them to read what was written. After five seconds, they turned to Dipper, confusedd and in disbelief at the same time. Of course their mentors came across as drunk idiots sometimes — they sent four 12-year-olds to fight a _wyvern_, some mythological creature that no one in Gravity Falls had ever miraculously seen —, but it wasn't like them to risk their apprentices' lives for a simple joke. Most of the time their jokes had some ulterior meaning behind them.

"This…" Daniel muttered, flabbergasted. He couldn't complete the phrase not only because he was too shocked, but also because he had consumed all of his energy defeating that stupid winged lizard; he felt like he could barely breath; well, it _seemed_ like he had defeated it, because Daniel wasn't too confident that the creature was gone at all — he felt like it probably just _vanished_, perhaps to heal its wounds and come back for revenge later. He felt like this wouldn't be the last time they had seen it. And he was positive the creature was somewhere observing them, watching every step they took.

It was creepy, overall.

"Yes, Bill was behind this." Dipper snapped, taking a step further towards them.

"I think it could be anyone." Asaph protested. "First of all, it's very easy to just _write _a name on a chip and call it legit. Second, our mentors are siblings; therefore they all share the same last name; unless they're lying about their names, none of them have one starting with the letter 'A'. And, as far as I've read once, the Cipher family used to be composed of various members who divided themselves in subfactions, each one adopting a different name — Cryptos, Codds, Iddents, I could go on forever with this." He turned to the chip. "I'm fairly sure there isn't anyone with the letter 'A' on their name, though…" Asaph trailed off. _Unless there is one family member that hasn't been written about… _The apprentice thought as he started to murmur to himself as many names written on the Cipher family's list as he could remember.

"Why don't we ask them about it?" Danna suggested.

"I was going to suggest that!" Daniel retorted. "Why don't we ask them about it?" He repeated. Danna rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out to him.

"Ok, then we better go fast." Dipper let his hat fall on the floor and grabbed the chip carefully with his mouth, carefully putting it inside his hat. Then, he swiftly put the hat back on his head and nodded. Well, at least he was getting good at being in this ridiculous form. "Let's go." Dipper couldn't care less if they did it because it was a mission, or because he was threatened to do so or whatever, but Bill _shouldn't _have done that, because that was ridiculously dangerous: he could've died, Danna could've died, Daniel and Asaph could have died. The whole town could've died.

They started to run as fast as they could. Danna was running from behind them, watching Dipper carefully. She slowly approached him. Danna wanted to say the words she had been planning to tell him, but they seemed to be stuck on her throat. She stuttered for a few seconds until she forced the words out, though they came a little shaky. "Dipper… I, uh, wanted to say thanks for saving me earlier. I didn't have time to thank you." Dipper looked at her and smiled a little.

"Sure, that's what comrades do, right?" And then he looked ahead. Danna smiled at him, but then her ears went flat on her head and she looked down.

"Yes, comrades, _yay_…" She murmured sarcastically, hoping that Dipper hadn't heard anything.

When they reached another clearing, bigger than the other, they stopped. Asaph looked confused as he looked around. "I don't understand… It was supposed to be here, I heard mentor Keehnesi say it." Suddenly everything went gray. Some of them stirred slightly upon seeing the world's colors being sucked away. "Nevermind. It's here." He rolled his eyes upon seeing the gray open space. They saw three lights glowing in front of them, before said lights took the shapes of a triangle, a circle and a square. Those were their mentors; Bill, Beatrice and Keehnesi – in order, of course. The circle floated forward and snapped her fingers.

After that, the four apprentices' bodies started glowing in a light blue light – which felt cool on their body –, and, in a few seconds, they were **humans** _again_, wearing white tunics to cover themselves. Keehnesi snapped his fingers and each one's clothes were in their hands, all of them folded carefully. The brunette touched his vest to check if the journal was still there; he was surprised that it was. Why didn't Bill take it? He seemed awfully willing to take it out of Dipper's hands at every chance he could.

"Oh, you're back already? Did you have fun?" Bill asked. Dipper let out an incoherent sound from the back of his throat that sounded like an animal growl.

"We didn't; but you sure did, didn't you? It was your plan all along, anyway!" The boy accused, pointing his finger at the demon, the words dripping from his mouth like acid. This time he wasn't going easy on his 'mentor' just because he was an all-powerful demon that could destroy the universe in a snap of fingers, of course not. Bill sounded a little confused upon hearing this, but was still slightly amused anyway — human tantrums were definitely hilarious, especially when they were unjustified. However, this didn't change Dipper's point of view – Bill was a great actor, and he knew how to fake things and act accordingly if he wanted to.

"Pine Tree—"

"Don't try to deny it! I know it was you! Damn you!" Dipper couldn't express his anger in words; he had barely ever cursed in his entire life — his parents condemned it; however, he had to let these negative feelings out in some way. If it wasn't physically impossible at this moment, Dipper would've punched the demon in the face; wherever it'd be.

Bill had not only created a monster that could've killed him, but he also made the creature almost destroy the entire forest, killing all living beings within it, including innocent bystanders like him a few hours before; also, he hadn't let them kill the wyvern. The creature surely hadn't died — of course it hadn't. It had _vanish_ed. Dipper had read it before. It was written in a mythology book he had read, before coming to Gravity Falls, that certain creatures could disappear without a trail if they wanted to. It was so obvious, but with all the commotion, Dipper hadn't remembered about this detail. And it was so important… How could he have forgotten about it? Curse his mind.

How could he be so dumb?

Dragons and wyverns could magically vanish if those are their masters' orders to do so, usually on an odorless mist depending on the master's power level — the brighter the color was, the more powerful the master was. And that was what Bill did, and _that _was how powerful he was.

"And there's MORE! Why didn't you tell me I was _HALF_-**DEMON**?! This is, like, the most important information of my life and you simply hide it from me like it's a girl's irrelevant secret? What kind of freaking deal is that?!" Dipper felt his throat aching and his eyes burning from shouting as his vision was slowly going red; he simply wanted answers, not to look like a maniac. But he had no other choice than to shout at Bill then. That was because he couldn't find a logical reason to calmly talk to him — there was no pacifically arguing with Bill Cipher. And he also wanted to let all this anger out in form of words.

"And why would you send a _wyvern_ with a chip attached to it to attack Gravity Falls' forest? It destroyed half of the trees from the forest, and it could've hurt others! And guess where it decided to attack us? Yes, exactly, on a field of poisonous flowers! You're really bored, aren't you?!" And that was the subject he wanted to talk about. The wyvern, the forest; all the illogical things he had seen that day — all the fear he had felt, all of the damages he could've caused, all of the possible losses and hopes he would've had to kiss goodbye to if they all failed that mission. He and Danna could've died if it wasn't for these wings.

These wings had magically appeared in time to save them; because the two of them would be dead by now if it wasn't for that.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bill answered calmly, almost as if he was really innocent. "But, as hilarious and pathetic as it all is, you sure need to calm down, Pine Tree—"

"Don't play dumb with me." Dipper gripped all of his clothes harder, with an unbearable feeling of hatred; a feeling that he didn't want to have, but couldn't deny that he felt that way — he couldn't hide it anymore. He felt betrayed, he felt unhappy — he knew he shouldn't have trusted Bill from the beginning, but why did he suddenly start trusting him, then? Why did he feel so guilty about all this? His eyes were burning, and he felt like he could barely stand. Keehnesi's hands started to glow in a dark pink color, as if preparing to attack if he did one wrong move — knowing him, Asaph knew he wouldn't even blink, much less hesitate; there was no distinction there, Dipper could be the guy next door or Bill's apprentice, it didn't matter. Dipper almost felt like the real threat there instead of Bill, but wasn't going to ease up just because of that. If they saw and treated him like a threat, he was going to act like one.

"Dipper, calm down, you need to relax." Asaph suggested, approaching Dipper calmly.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Dipper retorted to Asaph harshly, anger taking over him; _blinding _him. What was happening to him anyway? Dipper's anger was so intense that he couldn't control what he was saying, it barely felt like his usual self; unless it wasn't _him_ saying all this; it felt like he was a stranger to this body. Then, the boy turned to Bill, eyeing him with distrust. The triangle's single eye showed many things: confusion, anger, perhaps amusement and even _fear_. How could Dipper, a single 12-year-old boy, scare an all-powerful, pure-blood dream demon like this? It was so unnatural that Dipper almost feared himself for that; he felt so angry, but so sad at the same time.

He felt so lonely being angry at Bill when everyone was trying to calm him down.

"Explain this." Taking off his hat, he threw the chip across the forest, not even caring about being gentle and that he could've destroyed the chip. The pine trees around him began to shake, as if trying to warn them about any danger, before the whole place faded to a pitch-black color. They were back to the mindscape again. Bill grabbed the chip in mid-air and analyzed it. "So, can you still deny it?" Dipper asked one more time, but calmer this time. He had won the game. He had presented all the proof he needed to prove his point. He had beat Cipher in his own game. And that was game over for him. Or so he thought…

Bill's single eye widened.

"W-What… this is… he is… this can't be…" He stuttered, letting the chip fall to the floor. Not even once Dipper had seen Bill stutter so hard. Dipper supposed this couldn't be good.

"What now?" Daniel asked. Bill turned to them, narrowing his eye.

"Look, this is nothing important right now. I do not want to talk about it. This is all just some sort of joke, okay? I'm sorry for attacking you guys with a dragon, but this subject dies here. Just stay out of trouble. This is the **_end_ **of our conversation." And then, in a snap of fingers, he was gone. Dipper raised an eyebrow at the strange behavior. Bill had never acted like that, as if he was hiding something – something that couldn't be good. First because he actually _confessed _that he had created the wyvern, which couldn't be true. And second because he changed subject _too_ quickly. Besides the fact that if something ever scared Bill, it couldn't be a good thing.

Keehnesi and Beatrice exchanged glances before the circle went to grab the same chip that Bill had let fall. "Oh, no…" She muttered, backing off. Without a warning, Keehnesi snatched the chip from her hands and analyzed it deeper, knowing he'd be able to recognize anything faster than his sister anyway, or at least that was what he thought. "Thank you for being so polite." Bea commented sarcastically. Keeh rolled his only eye and then proceeded into reading the chip, ignoring the circle completely. He, however, only needed to look at it for three seconds.

"…But… That's impossible!" Keehnesi protested; his color changed from a dark pink to a light one. He had paled. "I sealed him with a **Banishment Spell**, did I not?! How is that even true?!" Dipper and the others felt the demon's indignation, but they were too confused to understand what was truly happening. They wanted answers. And this chit-chat was leading them nowhere. The other three apprentices, Danna, Daniel and Asaph, also hated when their mentors kept secrets from them and excluded them from important conversations. "How…?"

"We have to accept out fate, brother." Bea said, looking directly into his eye. She put a hand on his back as if that was a comforting act. "He is back."

"I'd enjoy knowing what you're talking about." Danna said, narrowing her eyes. The other two older demons exchanged glances again, and turned to their apprentices.

"What Danna means is… Who are you talking about?" Daniel asked, a little more politely, as he nudged his sister. Keehnesi approached them, and his color returned to normal (a dark pink) before he spoke. His words were slow – though shaky, almost worried, but calm at the same time. It echoed through the mindscape like it was a cave, and it also echoed through the apprentices' minds.

"It is Bill's _son_; he has escaped."

* * *

**A/N: Well... Ok.**

**It took me some guts to make this chapter, to be honest. I was afraid it wouldn't be good, but it wasn't that bad. I was thinking in finding a beta reader, but gave up on this idea. I mean, no, I think I'm taking a lot of time just by writing my chapters. So I wrote this one faster; and it is bigger too! Well, at least to me. It has over 1.280 words. **

**Uh oh, what is the FANTASTIC FOUR gonna do now? Oh wait, nvm. But admit it, they sound a little like the Fantastic Four XD I'm such a klutz. **

_**FYI: A Banishment Spell is used on demons who must be banished to another dimension to pay for crimes they committed that are unforgivable, and they shall suffer eternal torture as punishment, unless they escape. It is also known as **_**Punishment ****Spell.**

**Welp, that was cool. I'm going to use FYIs more often from now on. I hope you're ok with it. Oh, and I'm going to focus more on this story than the others, so I'll take a little longer to update Wolf Twins and other stories. Since CCC is a short story, then I won't take longer updating this one. It's, like, 4 chapters long or something. And, yes, this story will be a little _LONG_, so buckle up and LETITGO!**

**(WARNING: This author obviously is drunk.) - Niwana's brother.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	10. Episode 10

**Episode 10: Beneath secrets and lies.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

_"It is Bill's son; he has escaped."_

As Keehnesi expected, a lot of questions followed at the same time.

"Bill has a son?!"

"Did he date someone then? What's their love story?"

"Escaped? When? And from where?"

"Who would want to date Bill, Danna?"

"What is happening?"

"**SILENCE!**" Keehnesi roared in a scary, loud, low and demoniac voice. His whole body turned a navy blue (just as Bill becomes red), but then he recomposed himself and turned back to his normal coloration. Beatrice wanted to try and calm him down, but didn't want to get involved. She knew that when her brother got angry or impatient, many things could go wrong and usually someone would get hurt. Though, his attitude impressed her; honestly, it did. Keehnesi was a calm person- uh, demon. He rarely shouted, because he used psychology. It seemed like he was nervous due to the new information that they had discovered.

"Stop asking me stupid questions; this information is not for children. Now, let's continue our lessons like _nothing _happened, shall we?" His tone was threatening. The four young apprentices exchanged worried glances before turning back to their mentors; and then they nodded. The four of them wanted the answers so badly, because they were – even if the mentors denied – somewhat involved in this case. Bill's son had escaped somehow; the apprentices found their animal forms; they had been attacked by a fierce, blood-lusting wyvern; Keehnesi was having a fit. Many things were happening at once, and it was hard for them to relax and stop asking questions.

"Calm down, brother." Beatrice said, rolling her single eye, and turning to the four children wearing white, clean tunics in front of her. "That was a very interesting battle. May I ask how did you defeat the Black Wyvern? I heard they're one of the hardest species of wyvern to defeat and-" She was interrupted.

"We didn't." Daniel answered, trying to hide (effortlessly) his disappointment.

"What?" Beatrice and Keehnesi asked at the same time; both were confused. They had spent a lot of time inside there. Many things had happened there, but they were too busy to watch. Yes, they knew a lot of things, but that didn't mean they knew everything. Keehnesi and Beatrice had lives to live, and many things to do. They had works and apprentices to take care of. It was like babysitting, but harder; they had to babysit and train the apprentices at the same time. Who says that is easy? Daniel sighed, feeling a headache coming. He wasn't goods at explaining things, so all he did was nod at Dipper, and let him explain the situation. And Dipper didn't complain at all.

"When I first hit the wyvern, it just fainted… for a few minutes. But then it woke up and tried to catch me, almost as if…" Dipper trailed off. He had never thought about that before. This feeling had crossed his mind during the explanation: the fierce and anger in the wyvern's eyes, the determination it had, and everything else. It was something hard to explain, he knew that, but… Was he imagining things, because of all the nervousness and curiosity he was feeling? Something _wasn't _right, but Dipper couldn't put his finger on it. He needed a few more clues to complete his mental puzzle.

"As if what?" Asaph asked, snapping Dipper out of his thoughts.

"Almost as if it wanted me dead… or as if it wanted to catch me and take me somewhere… or both." Dipper completed as he sighed in realization, running a hand through his now-blue hair. Everything went silent. Nobody said anything, and all they could hear were each other's breaths. The two mentors were in silence, watching Dipper carefully, as if he was a criminal. Asaph stopped to think about it. The way the wyvern looked at Dipper, the way it aimed at him with its tail; and the way it tried to catch him when it turned out the creature was still alive.

It seemed like it needed Dipper alive for something. But Asaph couldn't put his finger on the question either.

"I don't understand. Why would it do that? This wyvern had also found me on the forest; if it wanted me dead, it could've killed me right away." Dipper asked himself. Beatrice grabbed the chip from Keehnesi's hands and analyzed it again. She narrowed her eye at the chip, while thinking about Dipper's question; it was a good question, if you stop to think about it: why would a wyvern do that? If the wyvern was so eager to get Dipper, then why didn't it attack him on the forest, anyway? It had a chance; a choice. Why leave him alone, let him live?

"I found out the answer for this question, Dipper: it was programmed to do so." Beatrice said, while gripping the chip tightly in her hands. Something wasn't right, and she hadn't discovered something new like this in ages. Finally, Beatrice Cipher felt useful and smarter than her brother. "This chip tells me everything. Look at it." She gave it to Dipper. He calmly analyzed it, and – at first – he didn't find anything special about the chip. Yes, nothing was wrong with it; or it seemed like it.

Narrowing his eyes, he analyzed it better and discovered the written numbers: **13(2)1450(2)9(2)**. These numbers were the key! He hadn't noticed it at first. They had been written under the letters 'A. Cipher'. Something wasn't right, and he knew it. Dipper felt himself trembling with anxiety, fear and excitement: a combination that he rarely felt at all before going to Gravity Falls. After that, he started having this feeling every day; the feeling of a new adventure. "This wyvern was created. I should've expected it. Black Wyverns have been extinct for centuries."

"What does that mean?" Daniel asked, pointing at the numbers on the chip.

"We've said too much." Keehnesi narrowed his eye.

"We have the right to know." Dipper argued back, feeling his rage building. Why were the mentors so devoted to keep this a secret? Was it something they would have to die after discovering or something? Was it a government secret? "And what do you mean by programmed? Does that mean it was created? Is that why it still exists though its species have been extinct?" He turned to Beatrice, hoping she'd answer his questions, but Keehnesi interrupted before the floating circle could say anything.

"Don't tell him anything." Keehnesi's body became purple again, also feeling the same anger as Dipper. "Listen, this is private information. You can't interfere in anything right now. A threat has returned, and it's coming closer and closer. It is my duty to keep you away from this. If I don't, he'll find you all; especially you." He pointed to Dipper, who shuddered. Keehnesi was _really _threatening when he wanted to, though that didn't make him want to give up; that encouraged him. If this threat was coming closer, one day it will have to come, and they would know the truth. Why should they delay this? Would it make it any better for everyone? "Do you know why Bill chose you?"

"No…" Dipper answered weakly.

"You have great mental capabilities, as well as great strength; and you're powerful. Bill's previous apprentice, who was his own _son_, was also like that. He was a powerful demon, and a great strategist. His mind was a brick wall against our previous apprentices. He was better at everything: battling, strategies, concentration… But he had one flaw; one defect. And this flaw led him to madness, and this madness led him to his own end. I think you don't want to end up like that, do you?" At this point, the other apprentices didn't even know what Keehnesi was talking about. Beatrice, knowing what he was trying to say, wanted to interrupt, but she couldn't. She _shouldn't_.

Dipper paled at Keehnesi's harsh tone and explanation. "I… I don't…" He stuttered.

"This is all I can tell you." The pink square recomposed one more time, returning to his pink color and relaxing. He closed his eye and mused: "Alright, since I feel you won't stop asking us questions, the lessons are over until we solve this case. And I don't want to see you sticking your noses in this; otherwise, heads will roll. And these heads will be yours. Now, it's time to go." The world around them started to crumble. Beatrice snapped her fingers and the apprentices had their normal clothes back. They were also fading, starting from their legs and going up to their other bodies. Their vision was getting blurry and, even if they were trying to fight against it, they fainted…

And everything went black.

**_. . ._**

Dipper opened his eyes in a heart's beat and jumped out of bed, looking around. Had it been a dream? Had everything been a dream? Everything about the wyverns, the story about Bill's son, the mentors and everything else… It felt like a dream; a weird one. Dipper sighed and put his hand in his head, sitting back on his bed. Everything was spinning inside his head, and he couldn't think. Looking down, he noticed how he had his clothes back on. The pine tree hat, the orange shirt, the grey shorts, the navy blue vest, the shoes… _Yes, it was a dream_, Dipper thought, as he wanted to tell himself that confidently. But couldn't.

What would he do? It sounded like, whenever he was closed to discovering something, another thing completely different happens and prevents him from finding anything out. Dipper got up, glanced at the clock that said 6 pm, and was about to open the door when the knob turns by itself and somebody enters inside the dusty attic. Dipper almost tripped (even if he was still) upon recognizing who had just entered: it was Mabel, his twin sister, and she didn't look very pleased. Dipper was already thinking about the best excuse to tell her.

"Hey there, Mabel" Dipper greeted in the most cheerful and normal (for him) way he could; though it didn't really seem to change the fact he looked worried and frightened inside. _Yes, stupid, go like this, like nothing really happened even if you made a deal with a psychotic demon and now is probably being haunted by a dragon created by him son_, Dipper thought as he resisted the urge to bite his lower lip and tell her everything.

"Dipper, we need to talk." Mabel said, and Dipper had never heard such a serious tone voice in his life. Well, in fact he did, but it didn't seem such serious business like right now. The brunette closed the door behind her, and sat on the bed that was hers. Dipper, knowing this would take some time, did the same with his bed. "You've been acting weird lately." And she went right to the point, not even trying to sound Mabel-like, with all her chit-chat and irresponsibility. And now the blunette was, again, thinking of a new excuse that would actually work, because the previous one now didn't seem like a good idea. Serious Mabel was a Serious Mabel, after all.

"What? No, I haven't – of course I haven't. I would never do that! Why do you think that?" Dipper stiffened nervously.

"First, if you weren't hiding anything from me then you'd answer me with a 'no, I'm not', and when you are, you answer me with five statements, in which two are questions and one in an exclamation – that sounds like you're in despair or something." Mabel explained, staring him in the eye. She didn't frown, or smile. She was really serious; keeping her poker face.

Dipper was impressed.

How had she been so observant in all those years and he hadn't noticed that? His sister was a genius or something like that, even if he wanted to believe she wasn't; or that she didn't use this characteristic that much. "Second, you've been disappearing in the middle of the day for the past few days! And you also sleep a lot. You never wake up _this _late; it's, like, 5 pm or something! Third, you are different, physically and mentally. We don't talk to each other anymore; your hair is getting a little blue-ish and your eyes are lighter."

Dipper's eyes widened and he grabbed the nearest mirror he could find. Indeed, his hair was still a light blue. And his eyes were light-yellow; the color of his wolf form's eye. He sighed. How could he explain this? Dipper thought these traits would go away when he turned into a human again, but they stayed. Like an unwelcome guest that he had to keep. Dipper sighed silently, knowing this would be a hell lot harder now.

"I-uh, decided to dye my hair. It makes me look cooler." He lied. _I hope it works_, Dipper thought to himself. Mabel knew how eager he was to look cool and impress Wendy, even if he had now stopped doing this that much.

"You said you'd never dye your hair because you know mom and dad will be mad at you. And you said hair dye is for girls." Dipper sighed. Mabel didn't buy it. And the blunette didn't even remember saying that, did he? Mabel had a good memory, and that is probably because she could blackmail him with things later. He knew his sister, but what other things was she hiding from him? She already revealed being observant, though fairly distracted. "Are you sure you aren't hiding anything from me?"

"No, Mabel, I'm not-"

"We don't go on adventures anymore…"

"Mabel, I'm serious-"

"You promised you'd tell me…" She sighed. "We're twins, are we not?" Dipper nodded. "And we promised we'd tell each other if we had a problem, right?" Dipper nodded again. He knew where this would lead. He had to be strong, keep his promise to keep this a secret, and move on. "Please, tell me if you have a problem. I know you do, and I want to be useful!" Dipper felt a tug at his heart. Mabel felt useless… because of him. What kind of twin brother he was? He was so busy doing the 'apprentice stuff' that he didn't even realize he was hurting Mabel in a way.

"If I tell you…" Dipper, however, didn't change his mind about keeping his secret. What would she do if he told her? Would she help him or abandon him? Knowing Mabel, she would do the first one, without a doubt, but he didn't want to risk anything. So he stood up, went to the door and grabbed the knob. He turned to her, and his grip on the knob tightened. "… You'll hate me." And then he left, closing the door and leaving behind a desolated Mabel.

She lied on her bed and let the tears stream down her face, falling onto her pillow.

"Dipper… You promised me…"

* * *

**A/N: Finally, chapter 10!**

**Wow, Mabel, it took you 10 chapters to find out? You're slow. And what has happened to Dipper's appearence? I'm not telling you. Yes, this chapter may cause many confusion on you guys, but I'm sure that later chapters can explain everything! I hope. Got a question? PM me! And, yeah, new cover! I found this photo on the internet and it caught my interest actually. I do not own this image! Just saying, ok! That's because I'm bad at drawing XD**

**Also, check out my profile, there are good news about this story inside there! Just check it out. And, oh my god, more than 5.000 views? Thanks so much, guys, I couldn't have done it without you T^T I'm so HAPPY! Yeah, I'm sad too because on Monday I have math test and it sucks so badly. One more thing I forgot to tell, and I think you don't know: _DANIEL AND DANNA ARE TWINS, GUYS! FORGOT TO TELL YA! _I'm too distracted this year. I'll just go to bed and sleep 'till next year.**

**Welp, I hope you guys have a good week! Oh, and a warning for those who haven't read Wolf Twins yet:**

_**At least one CS (Cipher Secret) character, OR EVEN MORE, will** **not**** survive! **_**Thanks for reading :3**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	11. Episode 11

**Episode 11: Asaph.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

Everything had worked just fine for Asaph Horth. Or, at least, he thought so.

Asaph was lying on his bed with closed eyes, musing about the whole story about Bill's supposed son. His pitch-black hair was messed all over his head, which didn't seem to bother him at all. The preteen still couldn't understand what was happening, or why, but he wanted to solve this mystery as fast as he could. Because it intrigued him at the point of making Asaph isolate himself inside his room to think about it. However, every time he thought about the subject of Bill's son escape, he would feel a headache, because there were missing pieces of the puzzle.

Sighing, he couldn't help but smile at the memories of when he first met Bill and his siblings. They were just scary at first, but – somehow – Asaph had gotten used to that.

Also, his mentor's bright color (pink) disturbed him in a way, but he was okay with it; more or less. Keehnesi didn't seem to like his color very much, but had to deal with it. Well, these were the things they had to deal with every day. Before the shocking news of Bill's son escaping, Asaph didn't think that summer would get exciting in any way or shape. Yes, he was the apprentice of a demon and, yes, he was fully aware of the dangers of being discovered, but that wasn't as exciting as a good mystery. Then, Asaph turned his attention to the day when he met his mentor. He couldn't remember very well what happened, but he tried to.

At least sometimes, when he forced his memory to its limit, it worked, and he'd remember some fragments over how everything happened. However, today everything would be different. The raven-haired boy relaxed, lying on his bed, as the memories resurfaced his mind. He didn't fight them, he didn't prevent them from coming, because that would get worse; he simply let his memory do its job, and his vision started to get blurry, a small smile tugged the corner of his lips as Asaph closed his eyes.

**_…_**

_"ASAPH, YOU BRAT! WHY HAVEN'T YOU CLEANED THE DISHES YET?! THIS IS YOUR FREAKING TASK!" A girl shouted from downstairs. Asaph growled. It was always HIS turn, she'd never do anything. _

_Since his mother and foster father died one day after they moved to the United States – which was near Canada – Asaph's sister would be his guardian and force him to do her chores. Also, he barely ate that day. Everything was horrible for him. The only thing that made him move on was the thought of his parents; and the thought of his mother. Of course, Asaph's foster father also cared about him as much as a biological one, but Asaph wanted to know who his true father was._

_They had moved to a small town near another small town called Gravity 'something'; Asaph called it that since he didn't know the name very well, but it was pretty near. If he had to walk to this town, it would take him at least 10 minutes. The town he had moved to was called Summerfield, and was a great place to live, because it was calm. Asaph sometimes could swear he had seen unnatural creatures, but that could've been his imagination or something. It's not like that would bother him, of course not. He had better things to do than search for unnatural and paranormal creatures that could probably threaten humanity._

_Standing up from his bed, Asaph was about to go downstairs (his room is on the house's second floor) to wash the dishes and maybe be left alone by his sister, when everything happened; and it had happened very quickly. After touching the knob, Asaph's entire room became gray. This event was so unnatural and scary that it was hard to believe it was really happening. However, it was – at the same time – intriguing. _

_"Gray?" Asaph narrowed his eyes at the doorknob, which passed from golden-colored to gray all of sudden. Finally, the black-haired boy looked at his own hand. It was not gray, it was normal, like it had always been. "Asaph, you're dreaming, go back to bed." The boy muttered to himself as he made his way back to his bed. Asaph had had dreams like this one before, and he would recognize them if he had one. Maybe he had fallen asleep while thinking? No, it couldn't be – he wouldn't fall asleep that easily; he wasn't even tired! But that made him wonder: what was truly happening?_

_Lying back on his bed, and trying to find a comfortable position, Asaph's green eyes scanned the room one more time, trying to find something unusual. He paid attention to the smallest detail, not wanting to miss something. Anything could indicate this was a dream, even if it was the scariest or silliest thing. Once he had dreamed something like this, and what revealed that it was a dream was a small fairy watching him at the corner of the room. Asaph's eyes stopped on the door one more time. Instead of a normal – gray – doorknob, there was an eye watching him. _

_"GAH!" The eye blinked, and Asaph yelped, as he fell off the bed. That was a surprise. He wanted to know what that dream meant; maybe the stress was making him imagine things; yes, that had to be it. "It is okay, Asaph; it's a dream, nothing is real. Though this pain FEELS real! Ouch!" And then he gripped his body, which was aching in pain. Nothing seemed to make it stop, though._

_"HAHAHA!" Someone started to laugh in a mocking tone. "Got scared there, kid? Don't worry, pain is hilarious!" Asaph started scanning his room again; just to check if he had let some psycho person from an asylum enter his house. Then the rug under him started to shine until the star in the middle became a triangle. "Nice room, kiddo. Maybe I could use this as my lab later!" The black-haired boy yelped in surprise one more time, trying to stand up and get away from the rug as soon as possible; was his new house haunted or something?_

_"Ok, who are you?! No- what are you?!" Asaph murmured and asked, astonished._

_"Well, kiddo, I'm lots of things." The triangle disappeared from the rug and then appeared in front of the black-haired boy, making him stumble back and fall on his bed. A single eye popped out of its shape. Asaph stared with wide eyes as the triangle floated to where he was. Even with the pain in his back, Asaph forced himself to stay at a fair distance from the triangle, which was even amused by the human's behavior._

_"**Lots of things**" The creature finished with a malicious glint in its eye and a low and deep voice. Then it started to laugh maniacally and rhythmically. The laugh echoed through the room like a cave. "But you can call me Bill Cipher, master of the mind, at your service." A top hat appeared on the creature's head, as well as a bowtie where it was supposed to be its neck. Hands and feet also popped out. The triangle, Bill Cipher, watched Asaph with its single eye._

_"Alright, Ann, if it's you pulling me a prank I swear I will…" Asaph didn't finish his sentence as the triangle creature – Bill Cipher – started glowing again until he had changed completely. Asaph covered his eyes to prevent the light from blinding him – and he had even missed the transformation, not knowing what had happened after. Upon analyzing the room and discovering that it was safe to uncover his eyes, Asaph did it. And now Bill was his sister – now he was Ann Horth._

_"You will what, brat?" The creature looked like Ann, talked like Ann and acted like Ann, but it wasn't Ann. Because Ann couldn't float in the middle of his room, and because Ann's eyes weren't yellow and her pupils weren't slits. And because Ann's voice tone when she talked to him was higher – as if she hated him with all her might, which was true. Since her father had married Asaph's mother, Ann seemed to hate her new brother. And even did the impossible to annoy him. However, that didn't affect Asaph at all, as the boy was hard to make angry unless somebody made things difficult for him to solve a mystery._

_"This reminds me that you haven't done the dishes yet, have you, brat?" Asaph's eyes widened as he watched in horror as the creature laughed maniacally and demoniacally, revealing its pointed teeth. A few seconds later, the laugh's tone twisted into a sick laugh, which was getting scarier – like Bill had come from a horror movie or a nightmare. "Tsk, looks like I'll have to punish you." Asaph swore he had seen the thing's eyes shine bright red, before once again light surrounded the room – and, again, forcing Asaph to cover his eyes._

_And then Ann was gone._

_Now, he was facing a teenager._

_A boy that looked no older than 17, with curly blonde hair and pale skin, and his eyes were yellow. Instead of pupils, there were slits, but thinner than when he had turned into Ann. Attached to his ears, there were two earrings that were triangle-shaped; and there was a necklace as well, with the same triangle attached to it. There were words written in the triangle, but Asaph couldn't read them, because they were too small and Bill was very far from him._

_This teenager had a black top hat floating in his head and a bowtie around his neck, and he was wearing some sort of yellow suit with a brick pattern. Behind it, there was a glitter-covered black shirt and normal pants, except for a belt with another triangle attached to it. And there was a yellow cane as well. In the middle of the room appeared a chair. Bill floated to it and sat down, like he was having a normal talk to a normal teenager. "So, kid, gonna obey your sister or not?"_

_"Why?" Asaph asked._

_"Sometimes all sort of demons get bored, you see, so we give humans nightmares to lighten up our mood." Bill explained with a grin, revealing his sharp canine teeth. Asaph raised an eyebrow. That could've explained a few things, but now all things._

_"So… This means I'm dreaming right now?" The raven-haired boy asked carefully, narrowing his eyes at the demon sitting in front of him. He didn't want to ask the wrong questions, because that could lead to disaster. Bill stood up, turned the chair around, sitting back. Then, he leaned against the chair, his chin touching its support. Asaph didn't know what Bill was going to do, but he knew it couldn't be good. The demon was leaning closer and closer until the two of them were actually very close, but still not too close._

_"Let's see." Bill slapped Asaph across the face. The boy yelped and held his sore cheek with his right hand, while trying to remain calm. That was an unexpected act, even from a demon. So, yes, he did ask a wrong question, which lead to a disaster to his cheek. "So, did it hurt?" The blond teenager across the black-haired preteen asked with a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. Caressing his own cheek to make it stop hurting, Asaph sent Bill a death glare._

_"Yes, it did!"_

_"Then you're awake." Bill concluded. Before Asaph could say something, the room started to change again – and, again, the room started shining. Asaph closed his eyes and used his two hands as a shield against the light as it faded slowly – and that was until two other people were floating behind Bill Cipher. The first one was the same as him, except for having a bright pink color for hair (which had a long braid), eyes, suit and cane; also, his earrings and such were squares instead of triangles. _

_At the pink guy's side, there was a woman with their same hairstyle, but it was long enough to reach her back. Like the other two men in the room, she had a spiky hair at a light blue color, and was wearing the same suit – but fit for a woman – in a cyan color. Her jewelry was circle-shaped, and her cane was cyan as well. For a woman, she looked like a child, to say at least. Though, she was as tall as the pink-haired man at her side._

_"Well, there you are." The woman said. "We leave you alone for two months and you're already leading humanity to chaos? We should've taken you to the council as well." And she crossed her arms. Asaph was right at his conclusion: she was an adult. Maybe it could've been the mass in her chest that indicated breasts, or the deep voice tone, but he felt a responsible glint in her eyes. The pink-haired man said nothing, just observed carefully; he seemed ready to make a move when it was needed, due to the grip on his pink cane._

_"You know very well I'm never stepping on that shitty place every again." Bill said infuriated, as he kept his back turned to the other two people floating in the air. Asaph blinked, confused. His voice tone had changed from cheerful-yet-scary to scary-yet-scarier-than-before. The raven-haired boy wanted to say something, but decided to keep his mouth shut for his life's sake. This seemed like a personal talk, and Asaph felt the need of letting them alone._

_"You know that this was for your own sake."_

_"KILLING MY SON WON'T DO ANY GOOD!" Bill exploded, his clothes becoming as red as blood, _well as his eyes. The teenager-looking creature stood up to face the other two people in the room_. Asaph knew that now he wasn't facing Bill Cipher anymore. He was facing the devil. Or something like the devil, because that creature was definitely like the devil – red clothes, a maniac glint in the eyes, as well as the blue flames in his hands indicating he wasn't happy. Asaph stumbled back in his own bed, all of his previous worries gone._

_"D́͞Ǫ̴͠ Y̶̡̛Ǫ̛U͟͢ ̵́TH̢I͠N̷̕K̢̨ ̶̡I̕͟ W̵͝AN͞T̸ȨD ̸͡TH҉Á̷T̴?͝! ͡ḐO̧͢͡ ̀͏͞ỲOU̕̕͏ ́̕Ţ͟H̵̵I̧̨N̡K ͏̕͘Ś͘͢O̵M̛̛͟E̶̶͠O̶ǸE̵ ̕͡W͜O̵͢U̷L̶̛͟D B͏̛̕E̶҉ ̀HA̵̵P̷P̵̢Y͢͝ B͝҉Y̕ ̵S͞͞E͞҉̷E͟͞͝I͜͠NĢ͘ ͏̸̀HÍ̕҉S̴ ̴ǪW̵̨N͢͞ S̨͜O͏̷͢N ̴҉D̷Ì̕͞E͜ Í̴̢N͝͞ ̵͝͏F͏R̷̕O̶Ń̕T̵̶ ̸͠O̸F̵ ̸H̢IM҉?͘͝!͜" Bill shouted in a demoniac voice that seemed to have echoed through the entire town. He soon lowered his head, trying to hide the tears brimming at the corner of his eyes. But then he couldn't pretend anymore. He was unhappy. He wanted to cry his eyes out, or punch someone to death. He had to be strong, but he couldn't handle this pain in his chest that grew wider every day. He couldn't support his loss; his two losses._

_"You will **never **understand a father's loss." And then he was gone._

**_…_**

Asaph's eyes widened and he jumped from his bed in a heart's beat.

"Of course!" He shouted to himself. "Mentor Keehnesi and Beatrice have erased my memories! They _knew _I knew this information, and tried to hide it from everyone." He narrowed his eyes. "But why would they try to hide that? What is so important that we can't know about? Why is it so dangerous?" One thousand questions were circling his head, and he wish he had the answers for all of them. Asaph sighed and sat back down, thinking out loud. However, out of boredom, he stood up and tapped his foot at the floor, trying to think.

"Bill's son… Council… Death… What do those three things have to do with each other?" He grunted and started to walk in circles. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Hey, brat, are you in there? Today is your turn to do the dishes!" Asaph banged his head on a nearby wall as he closed his eyes and listened to his sister complaining. "How many times do I have to tell you? Be downstairs in ten minutes or I'll lock you inside _the room _tonight." And then Asaph just listened to her faint footsteps echoing through the hallway until she was gone. 'The room' was a dark room with nothing but a single candle lighting up one of the walls. Attached to it, and under the candle, there was a torn piece of paper that – though very old – had the sentence written on it:

"_All play and no work makes Asaph a lazy boy_."

Though it was a very stupid idea to put that there, and a very bad parody to the real proverb, it still scared him sometimes; especially because, under the sentence, there was an X written with something red. Every time Asaph looked at this X, he thought of blood, though Ann said she had never written an X on the paper, much less with blood. "Unsolved mysteries and unknown codes..." Asaph smirked. "Sounds like another small mystery for detective Asaph."

* * *

**A/N: I'M ALIIIVE, I'M ALIVE OH YEAH~**

**This week has been tests week and, boy, I'm beat! Seriously, I don't want to see a math book for a loooong time. I got an 8 in my math exam, which is a good grade since two questions had been canceled (which got me two extra points) and I got two random questions right, and I didn't even know the answers, I simply marked a random answer XD I'm lucky. Well, now I'm making up for not studying enough since I got a 6 in geography. I don't really know why I'll need to study there. Here are my possible careers:**

**\- Doctor  
\- Violinist  
\- Writer**

**So to be a doctor I'll need science and math (the basics, at least), to be a violinist I'll need a violin (Dr. Obvious attacks again) and the basics about music sheets, and to be a writer I'll need grammar knowledge and imagination. I like the three careers, but I can't really decide what I'll do for a living yet, so everything will do. There is a lot of things you don't know about me, kids :) I've never mentioned once that I play violin, have I? Well, I don't know why I bother doing A/N's. It's becoming my personal diary now XD Also, if you want to see Bill's human form, which I'm horrible at describing, go to Jack-a-lynn's DeviantArt. _This _is Bill's human form.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	12. Episode 12

**Episode 12: The plan has begun.  
Arc: "Devil's Deal"  
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.**

**. . .**

Asaph ran as fast as his legs allowed him to, until he tripped and fell face-first on the floor. Then, he heard laughs.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Said a feminine voice from behind the trees around the forest, as Asaph tried to stand up; he winced at the pain at first, but then recomposed quickly, not wanting to look weak to whoever was there, though he _knew _who was there. "Seriously, that was the funniest thing ever." And then, in a blink, Danna was at his side, carrying a white and navy-blue backpack in her left arm, hanging in her forearm. Something about her smirk made Asaph very uncomfortable with the situation he was in.

Asaph narrowed his eyes at the orange-haired girl, silently threatening her. She either ignored his warning, or didn't notice it. It was probably the first one, since Danna was usually smarter than she seemed. Seeing as the girl didn't stop grinning, Asaph decided to tell her the truth:

"I am not amused." However, upon hearing this, Danna's grin widened.

"But I am. Now get up." She extended her right hand to him, since she was already holding her heavy backpack with the left forearm. The raven-haired boy in front of her hesitantly grabbed her hand as she helped him get up. After this, two seconds passed before the red-haired found out there was something wrong. "Dan?" Danna called, and then rolled her eyes when she was met with the absolute and calm silence. She didn't seem to worry about the fact that he could be in danger; he could take care of himself in that case. And it's not like she'd save him during any monster's attack either.

"Don't tell me you got lost again…" She murmured to herself, face-palming, until something tugged her shirt. Since she barely saw who and _what _was tugging her, Danna panicked completely and lost her cool rather quickly. "AH! A MONSTER IS KIDNAPPING ME! AS, DO SOMETHING! MOM, HELP ME!" Before Asaph could extend his hand to help her, the red-haired was pulled to the bushes behind her, and everything went silent. All Asaph heard was a blood-piercing scream peeking through his ears before something came out of the bushes from where Danna had been pulled before.

It was _just_ Daniel – neither a monster nor any creature –, being followed by a _very _pissed off Danna – who was trying to hit his head with a baseball bat that had come from God knows where. This cat-and-rat chasing had been going on for a few seconds, until Danna gave up on chasing her twin and decided to aim the baseball bat at him instead; surprisingly, it worked. The baseball bat flew through the clearing until it hit Daniel in the back of the head, catching him off guard.

With the impact of the bat, Daniel fell forward and hit his head on a tree ahead of him. The younger twin fell to the floor, his head throbbing and everything around him spinning. Trying to find something else to lean against – other than the tree –, but failing to do so, he gave up and then simply sat on the floor, the world suddenly fading and being replaced with stars and galaxies instead. Did he just die or something?

"Augh, what was that for?" Daniel asked, clutching his head, trying to make everything stop spinning around. His attempts to soothe the pain were in vain, as his head kept throbbing with the bat's hit. His sister was mad, and he knew that.

"Don't scare me again, moron!" Danna shouted, still panting due to the fatigue – but mainly because she was trying to stabilize her breath, since she had just had a heart attack thinking a monster had tried to kidnap her. Thankfully, she found her brother and no monster. And _she _dared to call herself a prank master – what Daniel just did was simple yet amusingly incredible. "You almost gave me a heart attack. Also, I've always wanted to hit someone with a baseball bat. You were my _first _victim, but not the last." She smirked. Her words made absolutely no sense to Asaph and Daniel.

"You're insane." Her brother pointed out, narrowing his nut-brown eyes. He knew this insult would do _nothing _to his sister, not even bother her. In fact, he wasn't surprised when Danna gave her answer:

"Aw, thank you." She took it as a _compliment_. _I could fix her problems with a baseball bat as well_, Daniel thought – then he started to wonder _where _she had gotten that baseball bat. It didn't fit that backpack she was carrying, especially because it was full of food and water. And lots of things for pranks – _as if there was someone to prank IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST_, thought Daniel again.

"Guys, listen!" Asaph said annoyed, interrupting their conversation which was amusing, but worthless. If he didn't tell them what he wanted to say quickly, Asaph had a probable, though low, chance of forgetting what he was going to say. And he didn't want that, because it was _very _urgent; he needed their help. Dipper wouldn't accept it anyway, but he could rely on the twins. He knew it. "I called you here for one reason." Danna and Daniel turned to him and listened with interest. Something told the twins this was an important matter, due to the worried glint in Asaph's eyes. However, when the raven-haired boy let out the next phrase, something inside the siblings broke; their patience, apparently.

"It's about Bill's son." Daniel groaned when his friend said these four words. He _knew _this meant trouble, though his friend didn't seem to care. Asaph had always been a worrywart, but Daniel noticed he was barely interested in the consequences of his act – or even his _ideas_.

"Is that why you called us in the middle of the day?" He asked, throwing his hands in the air, showing how _disappointed _and _frustrated _he was (it's not like he had something else to do, though). "It's getting dark already." For everyone's surprise, Asaph knew this would be his partner's reaction. "Our mentors have already dismissed us because of that! You don't want to cause problems, do you?" Danna watched their argument with interest. Something told her to get some popcorn. She opened her backpack, got a pack of popcorn (somehow) and started to eat, watching everything with a smirk on her face. _I wish I had brought some coke along. It's a shame that my backpack was already full when I had that idea_, she thought a little disappointed inside, _but bringing the popcorn was a good idea, though. Knew it would be useful, ha ha_.

"This is important!" Asaph argued, stepping forward and to his friend. Daniel noticed a spark of determination in Asaph's eyes, something he had never seen since he knew the raven-haired boy. He had always been happy, or at least _looked_ happy; Daniel knew that no one could be fully happy. He just knew it. "If it wasn't, then they wouldn't have dismissed us." Daniel sighed. He hated to admit it, but his _colleague_ had a point. A very good one: they could've continued their classes normally if the four of them hadn't decided to talk about it. Apparently, Keehnesi and Beatrice wanted to prevent further problems with the subject. "I had a flashback. But it was different: it was about Bill and our mentors before my deal…"

Danna and Daniel exchanged confused glances before Asaph continued. "Bill said something about his son being killed in front of him. This is strange since mentor Keehnesi said that he supposedly 'escaped' from somewhere."

"That's weird… Bill has a dead son… but why do you think this is important?" Daniel asked. Asaph closed his eyes for a moment – as if thinking in an answer – before opening them and staring his friend in the eye.

A gush of wind blew behind Danna; she looked back – all she saw was a silhouette disappearing within the trees. She shuddered; the feeling of someone eavesdropping on them, or even watching every move of them, was disturbing and wrong in many ways. Needless to say, Danna pretended nothing had happened and turned to her friends, noticing she had let the popcorn fall from her hands. Sighing, she crouched down to get it. _What do you fight for?_ Danna quickly stood up and spun on her heels so quickly that she almost got dizzy. She had heard someone (a woman) whisper behind her, but when she turned, all that was there were pine trees and birds.

Something wasn't right, and she knew it. _Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being watched, or even followed?_ Danna asked herself as she tried to forget this feeling. Luckily, Asaph's next quote managed to distract her for a little bit.

"Pay attention to the details." The raven-haired boy narrowed his turquoise eyes. "If he _escaped _from somewhere, then he has never been dead to begin with. And Mentor Bill _thinks _he is dead, doesn't he?" Daniel nodded, while Danna raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Well, then maybe he was fooled to think his son was dead. I'm not really sure why, how and who would do it, though." The male twin found this concept rather interesting, but Asaph was forgetting one thing:

"Isn't Bill _all-seeing _and _all-knowing_?" He asked. "He would've known if his son was still alive, wouldn't he?" Asaph shook his head. For this, he had a clever explanation:

"Remember when Dipper's eyes turned yellow in his animal form?" Daniel and Danna nodded – she was still confused, but tried to follow. "Mentor Bill said he didn't know why, because he was all-seeing about our world, not the demon world. So maybe his son was 'killed' in the demon world without Bill knowing."

Danna raised her hand, asking permission to talk. She wanted to ask a hellish lot of questions since they had come here, but couldn't because of the feeling of her being watched by something. It couldn't be her mentors; whenever they watched her, they were always very discreet and would never give her any of these feelings. But whatever was watching her didn't bother being discreet at all, and was even whispering things to her.

Asaph nodded at her, allowing her to speak for once. And when the words came, the two boys face palmed:

"I'm confused."

"Are you even listening?" Daniel shot a harsh glare at his sister. "Well, after all, you space out a lot." Danna growled in anger and was about to reply when Asaph cut their little chat; gladly, he interrupted before they could start another fight. Whenever they started an argument, they would _never _stop until one of the twins admits he/she was wrong. And that only happened once, when Danna was _forced _to do it.

"Don't start arguing; just don't do it." He said through gritted teeth. "Alright, Danna, just listen carefully. I called you here because we need clues. According to what I've read in the book _Myths and facts: The door to the unknown_, this forest has been a haven to fallen angels before they were extinguished completely; according to what they know, these creatures were running away from angels and demons who wanted to kill them because they were considered too powerful and, therefore, a threat to any living thing." Asaph shook his head in disappointment. "Whenever they went, to heaven or hell, the fallen angels were treated as outcasts. This is why they used to hide their true identities, no matter the cost. Of course, they would be found anyway."

Danna raised her hand again. "Yes?" Asaph asked, sighing in defeat; he had a feeling that they'd stay there forever. And it wasn't just for experience.

"What are _fallen angels_?" She asked. _Well, this one isn't nearly as bad as I thought_, the boy thought before he tried to think of an answer. The book said absolutely _nothing _about fallen angels, indeed. That confused him a lot, since he was reading about a creature he barely knew about. However, the story was so captivating that Asaph couldn't stop reading it from the beginning to the end. Knowing this story was real and that _the book had been written by a demon_ was something extraordinary and scary at the same time. Asaph didn't know they had this kind of book at home. Were those from his parents? Then, he remembers something important:

"The book had a page about it, but someone ripped it off… I think fallen angels are banished angels… Maybe they've committed some crime against God's laws… But I'm not that sure…" Asaph murmured, lost in thought. The concept of _fallen angels _was deep, and the name probably meant they were _angels _previously, but what did the '_fallen_' mean? That was something new and he had to discover more about it, but not now. He had to focus on what really mattered: their new task.

"As, what do you intend to do by bringing us here?" Daniel's voice snapped the boy out of his thoughts. Asaph cleared his throat.

"Well, since this place has been – supposedly – a haven for _fallen angels_…" _Whatever they are_, Asaph thought bitterly. "…I thought we could find a clue about the whole incident with Bill's son right here." He finished, biting his lower lip. Maybe that was a dumb idea. Maybe that could be considered suicide. Maybe that was so stupid that not even the stupidest person in the world would accept it. But his friends were interested, and no matter how dangerous, suicidal or stupid that sounded, they accepted the task. The twins looked clearly interested, especially the girl.

"Really?" Danna said, a smile tugging the corner of her lips. "Great! Finally I'll be able to use my detective skills!" Daniel face palmed.

"_What _detective skills?" He deadpanned.

"Oi!" Danna protested, spinning on her heels and narrowing her eyes at the orange-haired preteen standing at her side. "I've watched 450 episodes of Case Closed and CSI! There's no way I can't solve a case after that!" She pointed out, smirking at him, as if she had said something really smart – which she hadn't. Daniel knew his sister's quirks, and watching mystery novels was one of them. Something he really hated was when she pretended she was some kind of great detective and then tried to solve a mystery that didn't exist at all. That makes him furious.

"Ok, ok." Daniel muttered, waving his hand at her dismissively.

"Guys, please…" Asaph murmured in defeat. _They're like wild lions; hard to tame_, he thought.

He kept explaining: "According to my book, when going somewhere to get food and fresh water, the fallen angels used to leave their own feathers behind so they wouldn't get lost the way back, and they usually left them in pairs, a black one and a white one, since their feathers were black-and-white-colored. They wouldn't misunderstand them for a dove or crow's feather considering none of them would put two feathers together like this. And these feathers are what we are looking for." He explained. He didn't know if that was 100% true, since it was a demon who wrote it, and they aren't very trustworthy – though Asaph had to give it a shot. They didn't have anything better to do, anyway.

"But…" Daniel started. "If they left a trail of feathers behind, wouldn't this make it easier for the angels and demons to find them?" Asaph smiled.

"No. This is because the feathers had a special liquid covering them. Only _fallen angels _could see them; for demons and angels, these feathers were invisible. However, since we are _half_-demons, AKA half-humans, in theory we can see them."

A few seconds later, Asaph's smile turned into a serious face. "But watch out; if you happen to find one, **never **touch the vane. And I'm not kidding: they are covered in Adehnias' venom. One touch and you're dead." Daniel shuddered at the memories, while his sister was jumping up and down in excitement. She had already forgotten the time when she almost died because of that flower – because she went to pick one. Luckily the bird decided to show her what that flower was capable of. Well, luckily for _them_, not for the _bird_.

"That's really clever!" Danna grinned. "Maybe one day I'll ask the fallen angels myself to borrow some of this liquid that makes things invisible. I have a few pranks in mind."

"You can't and you won't." Asaph shook his head in sadness. "They're all dead. And you are standing under their blood." Danna let out a sound between a gasp and a gulp, but refused to look down; or move. The thought of standing under somebody's blood makes a person's heart skip a beat. Danna's heart skipped ten beats. Something about that made her think of a massacre, and she hated wars. She liked fights, of course, but when they were minor. She didn't like reading about the world's first big war, and nor the second big war. She liked kid fights, like the fights she had with her brother, for stupid things. That was ridiculous.

"Wait a sec!" Daniel interrupted. "Bill's son and fallen angels; what do they have to do with each other?" He asked. Asaph closed his eyes, not wanting to see his friends' reactions. Something told him they wouldn't be good.

"I'm not really sure about this, but… according to my book…" Asaph didn't want to say that, but he forced himself to. "…It was him who killed all the fallen angels."

* * *

**A/N: HERE I AM! BACK WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER!**

**I tried very hard to do bigger chapters but then I'd have to give up the details of the story. And we don't want that, do we? Good. Well, I had my first portuguese review from Anahhzp, and she pointed out one good thing: "Author, will there be more scenes of Mabel interacting with Dipper?" Yes, there will, actually! I'm not really sure when, as the story is very slow, but it'll be soon, don't worry about it, guys! As I said to her/him, Mabel will be a big part of the story.**

**Now, about this chapter, I don't know what to say, but I wanted to update as fast as I could, since I'm leaking creativity and ideas, and, gosh, my floor is a mess. Poor mom. Now, back with the questions, YAY!**

**(1) Why would Bill's son SUPPOSEDLY kill the _fallen angels_?**

**(2) Why does Danna feel like she's being followed? And by who?**

**(3) Why does Danna has a baseball bat? Where did it come from?**

**Also, I'm thinking that every character should have its own theme song, so why not? Ok, let's start slowly: _what should Bill's theme song be? _Maybe I'll think of something later! I don't know if you noticed, but 30% of the story is A/N! ****XD Thanks for reading, bye!**

**_Awakened Niwana, off._**


	13. Episode 13

**Episode 13: Chrysalis [part 1]  
****Arc: "Awakening"  
****Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**. . .**

Stan knew something was wrong.

He wasn't dumb: he knew and noticed Dipper had been acting in a weird way for the past days. It could've been just two or three days, but Stan _knew _his great-nephew too well. The first thing that changed was his sleep: the boy had always slept late, because that is what you do when you're on vacation. Now, all of sudden, Dipper decided to sleep at 8:00, or something near that. That wasn't the only change, though. After some days, Dipper had been going out too much.

This new information wasn't **that **impressive – the boy was always out hunting monster and unnatural creatures.

However, he always did that _with Mabel_, and now he was going out by himself.

And last, but not least, his appearance. Stan's sight wasn't as good as it had once been (even with glasses), but he swore that Dipper's hair passed from brown to blue all of sudden. If it was a light blue, Stan wouldn't have noticed it at all, but it was a navy-blue color, something very noticeable. His eyes were another issue. It could have been his imagination, but for a brief moment Stan thought the boy's eye color had changed from deep brown to a noticeable yellow.

Wendy should've noticed it too and didn't tell anyone, or pretended she didn't notice. The same goes with Soos.

And there was Mabel.

Oh, Mabel…

The girl knew everything already. She knew something was wrong; she knew her brother was up to something. She knew something wasn't right even before Stan realized it. But he, of course, was no match for her. She had known him for twelve years, since they were born. Both shared the same womb, the same room, the same birthday, almost everything. And both were loyal to each other. They wouldn't turn their backs to each other. They wouldn't hide secrets from each other.

They wouldn't, would they?

If so, then why did they feel like Dipper was hiding something?

What was he up to?

…

Stan hears a sound coming from upstairs, snapping him from his thoughts. It is a door slamming shut, and then the sound of footsteps coming closer. Someone was coming downstairs. Stan did his best to pretend he was counting the cash register's money and doing nothing else; now he was just glad that Wendy wasn't there. He wasn't surprised to see that it was Dipper who was coming down the stairs; great, just great; and he wasn't thinking that in an ironic way, of course not. Now he could have a talk with him, and he had many things to talk about.

Many things.

"Kid," He called. Dipper was a few centimeters away from the gift shop's door, when he stopped on his tracks, but didn't turn to face his great uncle. The boy just stood there, like a statue. The Shack was almost closing, and there were a few costumers inside the gift shop who had nothing to do but stare at the merchandise. From the window, the sun could already be seen hiding behind the mountains and trees, ready to go to sleep and let the night take place.

Stan always liked the night, because he used to see the stars with his family. Especially with _him_, analyzing the stars and naming the unknown ones. Everything seemed so peaceful in their family, until _it _happened. Of course it had to happen. Why did everything happen to the Pines family? Was it because the universe hated them or something?

He didn't know about the universe, but Stan knew a certain _someone _that hated them.

It wouldn't take long until there was no one in the Shack and Stan could talk to Dipper freely. "Where are you going?"

"Out." That was Dipper's short answer.

"Without your sister?" Stan decided to ask. That was a rather sensitive issue, and he knew that. However, it was important for him to know if his great nephew was avoiding Mabel, and it looked like he was, indeed. As a simple reply, Dipper shook his head. And then Stan sighed. It was time to know the truth, and he'd get it; with or without Dipper wanting it, because he was Stan Pines…

And when Stan wants it, Stan gets it.

"She's busy." Stan didn't like how Dipper was giving him short answers that would give him no clue of what he was planning or thinking. "Now I'll just go-"

"Wait, you have to stay here to, uh, sweep the floor." Dipper looked down at the floor, which wasn't even dusty, but arguing with his great uncle didn't seem like a good idea. Also, he didn't have any purpose to go out. All he wanted was some fresh air, and to get away from Mabel as soon as possible. And there was a chance that Stan would follow him and discover about his deal with Bill. He wouldn't risk anything. Without any struggle, Dipper nodded. _That was easy, _Stan thought, narrowing his eyes at the preteen who went to get the broom.

_That was too easy_…

Dippers started sweeping the floor until one voice rang inside his head.

And he knew very well who it was.

_"Pine Tree, I need to talk to you. It's serious. I need you at Gravity Falls' forest right now." _The voice said, sounding like the person on the other side was in a rush. Dipper sighed, hoping his great uncle hadn't noticed anything. He kept sweeping like nothing had happened. At least he didn't say anything wrong. Something he had learned was that, the less you talk, the less you reveal your secrets. This is why he decided to say simple words such as 'out', 'she's busy', and stuff.

_"Are you even listening to me, Pine Tree?!" _Dipper snapped out of his thoughts, noticing the urgency in the guy's voice. Something was wrong. He could feel the uneasiness in the air. For the first three seconds he forgot how to talk back. Luckily, he remembered that he could retort just by thinking in an answer; Dipper could've slapped himself for forgetting something so easy.

_"Yes, yes, I'm listening. But I can't go. Not now. Stan's keeping an eye on me; I think he's noticed I'm acting weird. One wrong move and I'm as good as dead- well, not literally." _Dipper answered. But half of what he said was true: Stan was watching him, and if he did something wrong, his great uncle would notice something was wrong; plainly wrong. _"But I'm sure he'll find out our secret. Sooner or later, but he will."_

_"Then you have to find a way to get out without being noticed."_

_"Do you think I'm some kind of magician?"_

_"No, but you're a demon and my apprentice. You might've at least learned something, for the love of…" _And he stopped there. That was definitely Bill Cipher, his mentor and worst-enemy-now-somewhat-of-an-ally-but-Dipper-is-not-that-sure-and-it's-not-like-it-matters-anyway. Dipper knew he was a demon, or half-demon, and he knew that he could do something, like blind Stan for half-minute or something, but then what?

Stan would notice he was gone, and he would realize it was Dipper who blinded him. And maybe he'd follow him, search for footprints or whatever, and then discover that he was there, talking to a dream-demon, their worst enemy, and that he had made a deal with him. He wouldn't understand that Dipper did it to protect his family and friends. He had sacrificed himself for them. He had made a deal with the devil for them…

That was all too unnatural.

_"Again: do you think I'm some kind of magician?" _Dipper repeated. He noticed Stan was staring at him, and then the blunette (since his hair is now blue) noticed he had stopped sweeping all of sudden, due to the large amount of concentration he had to use to formulate the simplest of the phrases. Dipper started sweeping the floor again, like nothing had happened.

_"Stan's getting really suspicious; if I try to escape, he'll be even more suspicious and may find out what is happening here, I told you already. Can't you tell me now or something?" _He asked. That sounded so obvious that it was actually dumb and prone to fail. Everything that is too easy is prone to fail.

_"No, we need to go somewhere where you can faint without anyone noticing." _Bill stopped for five seconds before continuing. _"You **will **come, or I will go there and get you myself."_

_"Bill, don't you dare come in here! Wait- Faint? What do you mean? Bill? BILL!" _But he was gone. Bill had been gone since he said his last words, and didn't hear any of Dipper's questions or his warning. _That guy_…, Dipper narrowed his eyes at the floor, focusing on the broom he was holding and the sweeping motion. Back and forth, back and forth... He noticed the shack was _almost _empty; almost. Dipper sighed.

_What should I do?_

**_wH aT Do yO u Th I nK yO U shO ulD D o?_**

Dipper stopped and let the broom fall from his hands and right onto the floor, making a faint 'thud' sound. Dipper blinked twice before he processed what he had heard. It was a voice. Dipper could barely recognize it. That wasn't Bill's. That wasn't Stan's. That wasn't Soos'. That wasn't Wendy's. That definitely wasn't Mabel's. That voice wasn't from anyone he knew. Dipper sighed and shook his head. He may have been daydreaming or something, but he swore he had heard a voice.

It looked like the creature was speaking an unknown language, but Dipper swore he heard something.

_Weird… _

And this time, nobody answered.

"Kid, you let the broom fall." Stan warned, still counting the money from the cash register. Dipper nodded and crouched down to grab the broom. _Stupid, stupid, you let Stan notice you're acting weird_, Dipper scolded himself. He grabbed the broom from the floor, but kept still. _Why? Why do all the weird things happen to me? Deals with crazy dream-demons, dark secrets… I just want to know… _

Dipper sighed and bit his lower lip, knowing he wouldn't get any answers just by asking himself, and so he got up. However, upon doing that, he accidentally hit someone.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry." Dipper said, as he noticed the person fell to the floor. He extended his hand to help whoever he had bumped into. The person gladly accepted his help. However, a few seconds later, they just kept staring at each other. Dipper blushed: it was a girl, and she was stunning. The preteen's white-to-gray hair, which was long and bound with a purple ribbon, was something really unnatural, but it fit her piercing purple eyes.

They were the same height, apparently, because he could look into her hypnotizing eyes without any problem.

Her pale complex made her look even more fragile as a girl. "Uh, I'm Dipper; Dipper Pines. What's your name?" He asked, so they wouldn't just keep staring at each other for a long time.

After he asked that, a noticeable smile tugged at the corner of the girl's lips.

"It's nice to meet you, Dipper Pines." She tilted her head to the side and her smile widened. Dipper had never seen such fragile-looking girl. However, he froze after she said the next words: "My name is Ariadne."

* * *

**A/N: Yep, short chapter. Before you say something, I can explain:**

**My life has literally been hell. I've had my violin presentation this Friday, and it was like a goddamn nightmare. I was playing well until I forgot the freaking end and I stood there like a jerk trying to remember it. Yeah, pretty embarrassing, but I made up something :/ also, I have tests from tomorrow to next Friday so my life is a hellish nightmare right now. Also, I've got life to live, you see. I DIDN'T have any writer's block for now, but my life is just so busy that I have to write my ideas down so I won't forget and stuff.**

**WARNING: I re-wrote the WHOLE story from chapter 5 to 12! So you might want to check it out.**

**Well, that chapter was short, but it has three parts. And... DUN DUN DUUUUUN CLIFFFFFFFHANGEEEER! Also, I'm not answering any of the previous questions. For now, two questions I shall ask:**

**(1) What was your reaction after reading this chapter?**

**(2) Some main characters will have theme songs that I will show later. What do you think about this?**

**Again, sorry for short update :/ anyway, keep your heart beating! Big things are coming!**

**...Big things are coming...**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	14. Episode 14

**Episode 14: Chrysalis [part 2]  
****Arc: "Awakening"  
****Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**. . .**

_"My name is Ariadne."_

For a few minutes, everything around them stopped. Dipper kept staring into the girl's eyes, trying to seek for the truth. _Think, Dipper: how many Ariadnes are there around the world? _He thought. Something about all this made Dipper more interested: all that had started with his deal with the powerful dream-demon, Bill Cipher – and now he had grown wings, fought a dragon-looking mythological creature, had just found out that said demon has a son that probably escaped from some sci-fi prison or whatsoever. Just then, he snapped back to reality.

"U-uh…" And Dipper found out he was tongue-tied. Ariadne had given him wings – more than that, she had saved his life. "It's n-nice to meet you too." He stuttered, trying to think of something. _That is Ariadne, but maybe it's a coincidence? No, it can't be. Her hair looks too well-done to be dyed. The question is: what is she? _Dipper inhaled deeply before trying to calm down. He had to talk to her in private, somehow. But he had to; that would be one less mystery to solve.

"My parents are waiting outside." She said, pointing to the door. _Damn, she'll go away, _Dipper stiffened at the thought of having to search through the entire world to find her again. "Can you join me? It's getting dark outside, and I like having someone else to walk with." She smiled at him. Dipper blushed and just nodded. While both went outside, he shot a discreet glance at his great uncle from the corner of his eye. Stan wasn't even looking at them; he was just counting his money still. Dipper narrowed his eyes at him before opening the door from the shack and leading Ariadne out.

"Do you know where the parking lot is?" She asked. "I'm not really sure. My memory betrays me sometimes, you see." And she let out a small giggle. Dipper never thought someone would reach the level of Mabel's cute giggle until he heard Ariadne's. She sounded so perfect in any way. However, why did he feel uneasy near her? Was it because she was probably an unnatural creature that may have given him wings to save himself from a field of poisonous flowers? Of course it is.

"Yes, just follow me." Dipper suggested. Ariadne nodded and both walked side-by-side watching the sun hide behind the mountains and pine trees. However, Ariadne wasn't even suspicious that Dipper was taking them to where no one could hear them. As soon as they had reached a clearing a not too far away from the Mystery Shack, Dipper announced: "We're here." Ariadne looked at her surrounds and raised an eyebrow.

"I think that's not the parking lot." She pointed out. Dipper knew she would notice, but had to gain her trust first – then he'd try to discover if she was just acting. Maybe she could be the real Ariadne, maybe not. But that was what he was going to discover.

"You can drop the act, Ariadne." He decided to say. Maybe she was not the real one and wouldn't understand what he was saying, but if she was the real Ariadne, then she would show a signal, even if accidentally. The girl, however, didn't even move. She just kept staring at him with a blank face. "I know it's you, don't you remember?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Seriously, just take me to the parking lot." Her voice was so full of seriousness that Dipper almost believed she was not Ariadne; almost. He knew there was something that seemed like acting. Maybe it was the way she talked, smiled or even blinked – however, how was he so sure? By the sun's position, Dipper could say it was around 6 to 7 pm, but he hadn't checked before going out. Maybe Stan noticed that. The blunette did nothing for a while, trying to think of something else to say, and stared at Ariadne – who seemed a _little _scared – with apologetic eyes.

"I know you're acting." Dipper didn't know why he was telling her that; he felt like she was the real one, but the despair in the girl's eyes seemed to show otherwise. _No, I'm not wrong, and I'll prove it to her_, Dipper thought to himself with determination sparkling in his eyes. "I can prove it."

"Oh, yeah?" Ariadne snapped. "Then do it! Prove whatever you want me to tell you! There is no point in this freaking thing!" And the sweet girl he had once seen was gone, and had been replaced with someone whose patience was running thin. Dipper closed his eyes. _Must focus to make it happen_, he told himself. The blunette thought of nothing than black, focusing as much as he could. Nothing would stop him from getting answers. Then, he felt a burn at his back – which clearly indicated he was succeeding in what he wanted to do.

In a blink, Dipper opened his eyes to face an astonished Ariadne facing him. Dipper looked behind to see two mismatched wings. He did it. He really did it – at least he managed to do this right. Ariadne blinked twice, analyzing every inch of the black and white wings that were attached to Dipper's back. She took a step forward and extended her hand to touch it, before she decided it wasn't a good idea and withdrew the hand, staring at Dipper for ten seconds or so before something happened.

She grinned.

"Well played, Dipper Pines." She said, moving forward and walking past him. "Well played."

**_. . ._**

"I knew it from the start!" Dipper pointed out with a bright smile plastered on his face. His eyes were shining in excitement. "You are Ariadne, who gave me these wings!" Dipper pointed to the wings behind him. The reasons he didn't retract them was because: 1) it would be a waste of time, and there was no one watching them anyway; 2) it would _probably_ take too much effort to withdraw them; 3) he didn't know how to. "Why did you help me? What's with those wings and why did you give them to me? And-"

"Do you really wish to know the answers?" She interrupted him and stopped walking. They had been walking for a few minutes now, but the sky was starting to get dark already. Dipper stopped at Ariadne's side and stared into her bright, unnatural purple eyes. "Sometimes it's better to leave things as they are instead of trying to find the answers, Dipper." She advised. "You may end up harmed."

"It's better to know the truth and end up harmed then to ignore it and live without ever trying." He explained. Ariadne smiled at him.

"Good answer."

They kept walking until Dipper noticed they were very far away from the Mystery Shack. Where was Ariadne taking him, anyway? However, when he was about to ask that, she started talking again. "If you really want answers, then I'll give them to you." Dipper's heart skipped a beat. She really meant it? "First, you don't know why I helped you, but I do know: you have potential. You have the perfect combination between a strong mind, a stabilized aura and great power."

"I don't understand; what does that have to do with what I asked?" Dipper raised an eyebrow. Ariadne seemed to pretend she didn't hear that question.

"Second, I didn't give you those wings." Wait… what? "They are yours, but I helped you getting them because you needed them. If they were mine, I would have already gotten them back by now." _That makes sense, but… _Dipper stopped himself from thinking that she may be lying about all this. "The _Sanctus Alaes_, or – as we call – holy wings, can be obtained by both demons and angels in different ways. But they appear mainly when you experience something delightful."

"Almost dying was the most delightful thing I've ever experienced. If I could do it again, I definitely would." Dipper deadpanned, which made Ariadne giggle. _Wait, angels? Are there dream-angels too or something? _The blunette asked himself.

"_Ignotum per ignotius_, Dipper." She said, smiling. "It's harder to explain than to find out the truth, actually – and I mess up my explanation a lot when it comes to the Sanctus Alaes. It's not known yet how they really appear, but they **mainly **appear when you do or feel something pleasant. There were also times when a demon or angel's wings appear when they feel scared or in danger." Dipper nodded at the explanation.

"Are there dream-angels like there are dream-demons?" He decided to ask, or that question would make him mad. Ariadne took two minutes to answer, and Dipper didn't even say anything between those two minutes of silence, just hearing the sound of the night; with birds flying above them, the sounds of animals preparing to go to sleep or to hunt, the owls… Everything made him relax for a while before Ariadne finally answered his question:

"Yes." She said. "However, unlike the demons, we stay hidden and we don't interrupt people's dreams unless it's necessary. We are the opposite of demons, and we give people pleasant dreams. The dream-demons make our task really difficult, though. Their task is to give people nightmares, and sometimes there are conflicts between dream-demons and dream-angels because of a simple person's dream." Dipper swore he had seen a smile tug at the corner of her lips at the mention of the dream-demons. What was she hiding? And why did she say 'we'? Was she an angel too?

"I see…" That was all he said.

"However, in hell, there are more than dream-demons." Ariadne kept explaining, as if that was a thrilling opera, a great book, an outstanding movie or a new, bright TV series. "There are forest-demons and angels – unlike dream-demons, both take care of the forests equal, but with different roles: the demons take care of the animals and hunters, while the angels take care of the flora and the natural disasters." Dipper nodded, but seemed to not care about it.

"Ariadne…" He started. "…What do you know about Bill's son?"

Silence followed before Ariadne stopped on her tracks and spun on her heels, turning to face Dipper, her eyes shining in the darkness. For a long time, all Dipper focused were her eyes. There was a mix of emotions within them – anger, sadness, happiness, confusion… and regret. Dipper could recognize all of those emotions because he had already seen Mabel this way. He hated to see this – Dipper immediately felt bad for asking that, but, if he didn't, who would?

"You shouldn't be asking that – to anyone." She said, hiding her eyes under her white hair. "Forget about it, Dipper. Too much curiosity may lead us to our own end – and it's always in the most painful way." Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know that?" She looked at him, with a smile of sadness tugging at the corner of her lips. However, it disappeared as soon as it faded. The woods around them silenced as they eagerly waited for Ariadne's answer along with Dipper. Upon opening her mouth to answer, one tear slid down Ariadne's cheek.

"Because that is how I died."

* * *

**A/N: ...That's really creepy, right?**

**I feel like doing something mysterious for later chapters :) Also, I must announce: VACATIONS YAAAAAAY! However, that doesn't mean there will be faster updates. I have an important history assignment and I really need to get a good grade on this one, so I'll be a bit busy on vacations. Yeah. AND, I KNEW STANFORD WAS STANLEY SINCE THE START HAHAHAHAHA! Kinda, my theory had some errors. So, there will be no questions today. INSTEAD, HERE IS A CHALLENGE FOR YA:**

**(1) How about a small challenge? It's like that: each character has its own theme song, which I'll put in the beginning of the chapter/episode. The trick is that I will _not _tell whose character the theme songs belongs to. INSTEAD, you will try to discover it. For example, I put a paragraph of a song's lyrics at the beginning, and it's YOUR task to know whose theme song this is. Get it? Tell me if you need more explaining and PM me :) **

**(2) Are you up to the challenge above? If so, say 'YEAH!'.**

**The one who gets more theme songs right will win a special prize :) Yep, there is a PRIZE. But I'll just tell you at the end of the story. Do you think you will win? SHOW ME YOUR BEST!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	15. Episode 15

**Episode 15: Chrysalis [part 3]  
****Arc: "Awakening"  
****Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**. . .**

**_. . ._**

And then Ariadne was met with silence.

She thought there would be questions, gasps, exclamations or whatsoever – but there were none. All Dipper did was stare at her, daring to look into her violet eyes. Their color reminded him of a tanzanite, which was Mabel's favorite gem – oh, Mabel... The single tear that slid down the girl's cheek made its way to the floor, and the sound of it falling to the floor, shattering into a million pieces, was audible for both her and Dipper. He knew it. He had always known it. Somehow, he did manage to know it. However, one question prevailed – if Ariadne was really dead, then what was she doing there, with him? Walking with him – a _probable _demon? A plague that many humans did not dare to mess with?

Humanity feared demons and they feared anything that was related to demons. Dipper, before going to Gravity Falls, used to do so, until he discovered there were things worse than demons. There were creatures out there that seemed to be worse than demons. And there were **people **who seemed to be worse than demons. Gideon. Pacifica. Dipper wondered why humans feared demons so much. The demons had never come to Earth, causing chaos, death and wars. No, humanity didn't have to fear demons – they had to fear themselves.

"Some things are left unsolved." The phantom-looking girl said, with a sad smile – which was the best she could manage to do, with the depression consuming her from inside out. "And, sometimes, things don't work our way; I'm sure you've already discovered that by yourself, by making a deal with a demon to protect your family and friends, and everyone you love. However, I see you've grown fond of your new comrades." All Dipper did was nod. "…Won't you say anything?"

Dipper looked around, then turned to Ariadne and asked:

"Where are we going?"

She smiled and kept walking. Dipper looked at her, blinked and then followed. His wings were a burden, and he would've almost forgotten about them if they hadn't ripped part of his shirt – also, they weren't _too _heavy, but the wings weren't also what you'd call _light_. Appreciating the night was a delight to him, especially because Dipper had always been a nightly person. Though he used to fall asleep very fast, when Dipper had insomnia, he leaned against his room's window and watched the stars and the sunrise – at least until he'd tire himself out.

"I cannot tell you. Not yet." And then Ariadne's smirk was back. Dipper's mind told him to run as fast as he could, but his heart told him to do whatever he wanted. And he wanted to follow Ariadne and see where this would lead them to. "Also…" She stopped and spun on her heels, staring into Dipper's golden eyes. "…Whatever you see, whatever you hear, you must… You must…" She stopped herself from completing the sentence. "I-it's nothing. Let's go."

She started walking again, lowering her head until she was staring her own feet while walking, oblivious to the world around her. Dipper wondered what she was going to say. _'You must'? I must what? Does she want me to…Trust her? Is that what she wants? _The blunette decided to drop the subject; for now – this wasn't over; not yet. Not while he was still a mystery hunter and a truth seeker. Before he could do anything, Dipper noticed he was now looking at the floor as well, not even staring at Ariadne's back. Sighing and inhaling a certain amount of air, Dipper looked up at the sky full of stars. The moon shone bright in the sky. It must've been around 7-8 pm.

"Where are we going?" He asked again.

Ariadne did not answer immediately. When Dipper was going to ask the same question again – he's keep asking it until she decided to tell him –, she spoke in a soft, yet dark, voice: "…Trust me." And she had completed her sentence, even if it took more than five minutes to do so. "You must trust me." She repeated in a louder and stronger voice tone, just to make sure Dipper had heard what she had said. "…No matter what." She finished – it was barely a whisper, but the forest surrounding them was so quiet that it was possible for Dipper to hear it.

"I see…" That was all that the boy said.

Dipper never thought the forest would be _this _quiet at night. While he hunted for monsters, it was noticeable how the forest was always agitated – full of monsters, full of secrets, full of mysteries. However, at night, the forest was also full of its own mysteries – however, those 'mysteries' were not unnatural ones. They were what humans wondered during the night, when they are stargazing or sleeping under the stars. Also, Dipper used to stare at the sky in wonder during a rainy night, because the stars seemed to shine even brighter during the night. But, now, without any rain, they seemed less bright and more mysterious.

"I can hear your thoughts." Ariadne suddenly said. "I can hear what you think about the night, about the universe." She looked up, but didn't smile or show any sign of enjoyment. She was serious. "Sometimes the night can be shadowy, dark and mysterious to the level of giving you nightmares. But, most of the times, it is beautiful in its own way. That is how the relation between humans is. The humans are like nights, don't you agree?" Dipper stopped to think about it.

"Mm-hm." He nodded, finally. However, as soon as she stopped talking, one question crossed his mind. "Ariadne, if you really… Died… Then how come I can touch you?" He extended his hand to touch her arm, however, as soon as he did that, his hand passed through Ariadne's arm like she was never there. "W-what, how…?" He murmured in astonishment. He bumped on her, and remembered that the feeling and the _pain _were real; he did that while grabbing the broom from the floor and accidentally bumping on her while standing up.

"The mind is something really weird, isn't it?" Ariadne started again. Dipper felt like, every five minutes, she started to speak random things. "For one minute you think you're taking a normal girl to a parking lot and then discover she is a lost soul. How ironic – the destiny." _Wait! Did Ariadne just refer to herself as a 'lost soul'? _Dipper raised an eyebrow. Should he really ask about it? Every time he asked her something, she started to talk about random things that are completely out of topic.

However, it was worth a try.

"Why did you say 'lost soul' instead of 'ghost'?" And he was met with silence. Ariadne, before, seemed like an open person. However, after revealing her shocking secret, Ariadne seemed completely oblivious to any kind of obvious thing – she couldn't answer even the simplest question. Dipper, at this point, didn't know if she didn't want to give him any answers or if she was really badly affected after revealing the truth. Dipper sighed, seeing she wouldn't answer. Everything he heard were the sounds of their asymmetrical footsteps. No whispers, no nothing. "It's okay. You don't need to answer if you don't want t-"

"There are two types of ghosts on Earth." Ariadne interrupted, and, finally, Dipper was getting some answers. "They are the normal ghosts and the _lost souls_. The normal ghosts are already born as ghosts. The lost souls _become _ghosts – and this is why they are called _lost_; because they are _forced _to roam upon this planet for the rest of their miserable lives. _I_ will be _forced_ to roam around for the rest of _my_ **miserable** life." And another tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away with the sleeve of her baby-blue long-sleeved shirt. However, she soon smiled. "How funny, isn't it?"

Dipper didn't answer; instead, he narrowed his eyes at her. Something about her behavior made him very suspicious.

"Oh, here we are!" Her exclaim made him stop on his tracks and look ahead. They were at the exit (or the entrance) of a clearing. Unlike the previous clearing where they had found the horrifying Black Wyvern, this one was illuminated by the moon and had a few butterflies flying around. However, something about this place made Dipper feel agony. As if he would predict the future. "Before we enter, may I tell you a tale?"

"You want to tell me a tale?" Dipper asked.

"Yes."

"…I don't see why not." And he leaned against one of the million pine trees surrounding them, to make himself more comfortable. Knowing Ariadne – even if for a few hours – he already knew this would take _some_ time. She smiled, and started her tale.

"Once upon a time, there was a prince. He was innocent and had a happy life living in hell, a peaceful place, as a young prince, even if he did not behave like one – he behaved like a normal child. When he got older, this prince started his training to control his powers. During the first session of training, the other demons and angels discovered that the prince had potential and was very powerful – more than any ordinary demon. However, as this prince grew up, he started to train harder to discover more of his powers. The more power he got, the more he wanted. No matter how strong he was, the prince always wanted more power. That kept on until he had enough power to destroy the entire solar system." Dipper's eyes widened. What the heck was she even talking about?! "Upon discovering he had reached his limit, and not satisfied with the power he already had, the prince decided to absorb power from other demons and angels, especially the most powerful ones."

Dipper let out a silent gasp that stuck on his throat, making it burn. Something about his tale sent shivers down his spine. However, Ariadne wasn't finished.

"When the other demons and angels discovered what the prince did, how he killed so many lives just for the lust for power. Many demons and angels decided to organize a council and, after everything was done, the prince was judged and his sentence was death – he was not only a murderer, he was a threat. The catch was that one member of his family had to kill him. His father couldn't kill his own offspring, so the prince's uncle offered himself to kill the young demon instead. The father was forced to watch his son's death happen in front of him. His own brother had killed his son. The prince had begged and prayed for mercy, but the uncle didn't seem to care. Or at least he didn't _seem_ to." Ariadne closed her eyes. "The prince's obsession led him to his own end." After that, Dipper was horrified. "And that's the same with humans. Their obsessions, fears and dreams lead them to their own end; in the most tragic and painful way possible." She lowers her head again, as if Dipper's glare would kill her, which is kind of impossible since she's already, you know, dead.

The blunette nodded.

"I see." Dipper turned his attention to the clearing. "But what does the clearing have to do with that tale?" Ariadne turned to the open field behind her. A sad smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and she started to walk forward and to the field. Dipper noticed this and immediately followed her. As she stopped in the middle of the clearing, with Dipper next to her, she turned her head to face him, and stared him in the eye. "…" Dipper waited for the answer. Even if it would never come, he'd wait for it.

"Life is meaningless, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically, as if that was some kind of natural joke – the life, the meaning of it. "We all die one day. And we know that we will have this fate since we are born. So why do we bother living?" Dipper knew that _now _she wanted an answer. He also knew the answer to this, because he once asked Mabel about it – and she answered the same thing he would say now:

"That's the point." He said, looking at the trees in amazement. He quickly snapped out of his trance due to the clearing's beauty, and then looked at Ariadne, who still required an answer. "We know life is short, and this is why we live it to the fullest." Dipper's eyes shone in excitement. "Even if there are people who don't appreciate their lives, we try to." Ariadne nodded.

"What about you?" She asked. A hint of guilt and sadness could be noticed in her voice tone. "Do you appreciate your life?"

"Yes."

"Hm."

And they stood like that for some time. Dipper looked at the pine tree to his left, just to notice a crow-like bird standing on one of the branches. However, looking closely, the blunette noticed that there wasn't just one, there were more than thirty. "Ariadne…" He tried to warn, but his voice came as a whisper of fear and fright. The birds laid their crimson eyes on him upon hearing his voice. Ariadne, again, let a tear slid down her cheek. _Geez, she's getting too emotional. What the heck is going on? _Dipper thought as he tried to concentrate.

"Ariadne, are you alright?" He asked again, this time in a little softer tone. She looked at him, more tears brimming at the corner of her eyes, daring to fall, to shatter into pieces again; to leave her alone. "Ariadne…?" Dipper was now feeling uncomfortable by her constant stare. It was as if she was planning something worse than everything the humans have done.

**_eNo On tSUrt …_**

Dipper stiffened as the voice rang through his mind, speaking in an unknown language – to him. It was back; Dipper didn't know what _it _was, but he knew it was back. He had always felt an uneasy presence near him. It was always watching every movement, every thought, and every step. Dipper knew that since he had started a deal with Bill Cipher, strange things started to happen around him. Was Bill Cipher the source of all this trouble? Ariadne lowered her head for a second, before turning to face the blunette at her side. The voice couldn't be Ariadne, could it?

"Forgive me, Dipper." Ariadne said, not being able to hold back her tears anymore. They slid down her cheeks like a river: calm, but prone to cause a tsunami. She knew she had to do it, but at what cost? She turned to the horde of birds lingering in the shadows of the trees; hiding, as if they could be attacked at any moment. "Forgive me."

**_Eno on TSUrt_**

**_eNO oN tSUrT_**

**_eNo On TsuRT_**

**_ENO ON TSURT_**

"What-"

"**_fEeD._**" Ariadne's low, disharmonic and demonic voice ordered. Within a second, the bunch of black-feathered birds opened their wings and took flight, landing to where Dipper was and surrounding him completely. One of them, with a mix of black and white feathers in a disharmonic mess, stepped forward and its crimson eyes connected to Dipper's birthmark, which started to glow, causing Dipper to feel a cool sensation on his forehead – something like this triggered a throbbing at his head. Immediately, all of the other birds did the same until they were all connected to Dipper, whose legs started to tremble, and then all of his energy seemed to vanish slowly, but not as slowly as he wanted it to.

_What is this feeling?_

Dipper turned to the exit of the clearing. Ariadne was running away. "Ariadne…" He whispered. Realization hit him hard, like a brick. Like tons of bricks at the same time; or maybe a brick wall. "**ARIADNE!**" Dipper shouted, realizing what she had done: **Ariadne left him to die**. He tried to run after her, but the horde of birds flying around him made it difficult to find any way out. His vision started to get blurry, everything around him started to spin, the world was switching from black to white, black to white, and so on. He couldn't recognize a bird from his own emerging darkness. Dipper, even at verge of unconsciousness, could hear her only and final whisper to him: "_I'm sorry_".

It could've been an illusion, but it wasn't.

It could've been a dream, but it wasn't.

It could've been a lie, but it wasn't.

It could've been anything… But it wasn't.

…Then…

What was it?

Dipper fell to his knees; his energy was gone; completely gone at the point he could not stand anymore, feeling the weight of the world within him. He felt so empty, so lonely; so **betrayed**. Why did he feel so guilty? Why did he feel so disappointed? Why was he so empty inside? Dipper wanted to feel anger, but he couldn't find any strength to do so. Whatever those creatures were, they were sucking his energy, his determination – at the point of making him give up. His wings were losing their color and becoming gray, and the blunette couldn't even keep them up, at the point where they fell to the floor, making some birds retreat for a second, but then they came back. Finally, Dipper stopped resisting, and he fell to the floor; he allowed the birds to take his life away, to take his energy away. That was what they wanted: his energy. He let go. He gave in. It was useless to fight. It was so useless.

Everything went black, but Dipper was still conscious enough to hear one disharmonic voice greeting him through the darkness:

"**_It'S BeEN So LoNG, LIttLE BrOTHEr._**"

* * *

**A/N: _Now_ the TRUE story begins :D**

**I've been planning this since I started this story, and I have to admit this chapter turned out to be better than I imagined. You don't have to read it if you don't want to, it's a little _too _big, but I'm warning you won't understand anything the next chapters if you skip this one - I can say its one of the most important chapters for the story's plot. Why am I posting so soon? I need to finish this story, really. AND NOW, THE QUESTIONS YAAAAAH:**

**(1) Why would Ariadne do that? WHY?  
****(2) Ready for the challenge in the next chapter? (remember the prize, guys, remember the prize)  
****(3) What are the names of the crow-like creatures that were in that forest? (tip: they're OBVIOUSLY not crows)  
****(4) From 1 to 10, how long this chapter is? XD**

**Ok, I'm done for now. This chapter had 3.200 words, so you better enjoy it and don't say it's too short now XD Yeah!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	16. Episode 16

**"**Maybe it's a dream, maybe nothing else is real. But it wouldn't mean a thing, if I told you how I feel. […] Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay or should I go? I've forgotten how to tell; did I ever even know?**"**

— Touhou/Cristina Vee, Bad Apple.

. . .

**Episode 16: Nightmare Core.  
Arc: "Awakening"  
Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**_. . ._**

_It's so cold…  
Everything's black; I can't see…  
I cannot breathe…_

**_. . ._**

_My body stiffens at every sound I hear…  
Why can't I move? What is this feeling?_

**_. . ._**

_Somebody…  
Save me…_

**_. . ._**

_As soon as I open my eyes, everything around me is burning. The town of Gravity Falls is burning. The world is burning. There are people screaming, praying and running with their children, pets and family. They are leaving the town to somewhere safe, probably. I stand up, noticing that I was sitting at the middle of the road, and walked towards the burning town; a town that has once been peaceful, quiet. I don't know what is happening. There are people telling me to run away, to stay away, but I don't listen._

_What are they so afraid of? _

_I walk further inside the town, analyzing every inch of it. Then I lay my eyes on a preteen, around my age, sitting next to a burning house, in a fetal position, her legs pressed firmly against her chest, and she's crying, sobbing uncontrollably. I walk towards her. She raises her head to look at me, and her eyes held despair. I can also feel her fear from here. She stands up, and I notice we are the same height. I cannot recognize that girl, but I feel like know her. However, I don't._

_"Pine Tree" She says. She is talking to me, because there is no one else in town except us. That girl knows me, but I don't know her, or I feel like I don't. Who is Pine Tree, and why is she calling me that? Come to think about it, what is my name? "Pine Tree, you have to save yourself. Why are you here?" Her grey eyes hold no emotion after she says this. No emotion at all – she stares at me, waiting for my answer. I extend my hand to touch her face, but it goes through her cheek like she was never there. I've never felt so empty before, like all my emotions are gone._

_Alas, I cannot remember my true name._

_"I don't know you." I say simply, not caring if I crushed her feelings or not. Even saying that, I can't hear my own voice; I heard nothing. Without saying anything, I spin on my heels and turn to the core of the burning town. The girl behind me shouts something, but her voice is cracked and I can't hear a thing. Ignoring her, I keep walking until I stop in front of a store. It is called 'Dusk 2 Dawn', and half of it has already been destroyed by the fire. I open the door carefully, so I wouldn't get burned, and looked inside – something makes me want to remember about this place, but I can't remember anything. I close the door and walk a little more._

_I don't know what happened **before** and I don't know what is happening **now**. I just keep walking, because that is all I can do. I turn away from Dusk 2 Dawn and keep walking around; my footsteps are silent and light; and I walk slowly – like a snail. It's like I'm enjoying the ride, though I am not._

_My heart almost stops upon seeing corpses. Some people have been stabbed; others have been burnt to death. I can't handle seeing this, and turn my head to the other side. However, that doesn't work. There are also corpses on the other side. I feel the bile rising in my throat, but I don't throw up. I don't want to, so I keep the food inside my stomach. I ignore all the corpses and then keep walking._

_The town was never-ending. The town seemed so small before… I guess I was wrong._

_As I kept walking, more horrible sights crossed my eyes. I see people burning. I hear screams of agony and despair. There are people crying for the loss of a relative everywhere I go. That makes me wonder who'd do such an atrocity. I have no words to describe this. However, I finally stop at my final destiny: a place called 'Mystery Shack'. I analyze the place around it. There is a golf cart half-destroyed, half-intact. There are some dollar bills lying around, as if they were telling me that someone was here before._

_I opened the wooden-made door before analyzing inside._

_The place seemed to be somewhat of a store before everything was burn to ashes. There was fire everywhere, and it was hard to recognize some things, but I managed to do it without failing. Half of the t-shirts have been burnt to ashes and what seemed to be a vending machine is completely destroyed. Behind it, there is some kind of secret entrance. I narrow my eyes at the secret passageway before I turn my back to it and go to the other side of the gift shop instead._

_I cross the gift shop and open one door to the left._

_That place was so destroyed I can't even imagine what it was before. So I close the door behind me. I started walking around until I reach somewhere that looks like a living room, and it is half-burnt; still burning. On my right, there are stairs that will lead me upstairs. So I climb the stairs until I reach a small room that looks like an attic. I slowly open the door, afraid of what I might see. My eyes widen and, this time, I can't prevent the bile from rising in my throat and escaping my mouth._

_I fell to the floor, emptying my stomach, and look up again._

_There is a girl staring at me with wide open chocolate eyes, but she is not moving. She is hanging from the ceiling, and there is a rope tightly tied around her neck. There is blood everywhere, coming from her stomach, neck, mouth, eyes and limbs. It is a traumatizing sight. The worst thing is…_

_I don't know who that girl is._

_Her eyes, wide open from shock, were of a beautiful brown color. Her hair was also brown, but had a darker shade. She was wearing a shooting star sweater._

_"Shooting Star…" I murmur, and it's the first time I hear myself talking. My voice is weak and almost inaudible, like I had lost all my strength. I don't know if what I'm living is the harsh reality or a nightmare, but I pray to be the latter. So many deaths and I don't even know what's going on. I don't know my **own **name. That girl before called me Pine Tree. Is that my real name? My head is pounding and overflowing with questions that I wanted to answer, but couldn't. Something even more shocking happened when I looked at my right side._

_Written in blood at a wall near me, there were the words:_

**_hUmANiTY WiLl FaLl  
aNd i wILl RiSE _**

_I was paralyzed from shock and realization. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't remember anything, but that wasn't reality. It was a dream. The blood was from the girl hanging from the ceiling and next to me. I turned to her, fearing that she'd still be alive and laugh at my reaction. It was the first time I'd shown emotion since I woke up in this dream. As soon as I finished my conclusion, the world around me started to spin and I blinked to stop the dizziness, though it didn't work._

_Everything faded into darkness…_

**_. . ._**

**_. . . _**

**_. . ._**

_Dipper woke up gasping for air as his eyes shot open. The blunette felt himself leaning against the cold ground under him, even if there was **none**. Everything around him was black. Dipper narrowed his eyes after realizing what was happening: the dreamscape. Bill Cipher. He tried to stand up, even if every muscle of his body felt sore, and managed to do it – even if he almost fell face-first on the floor at the first attempt. Dipper didn't know where to start after that. Maybe calling Bill and require an explanation would be a good beginning._

_"Bill!" Dipper called. His throat, somehow, felt sore, and his voice came out weakly, but loud enough to cause an echo through the dreamscape, that has once been the mindscape. "Bill, come out! I know you're here." After saying that, Dipper was greeted with a laugh that also echoed through the mindscape and peeked through his ears like sharp knives, forcing the blunette to press his palms against his own ears._

**_eREh tOn Si lLiB, yllis_**

_And the unknown language was back._

_"W-who are you? What are you talking about?" Dipper asked as fear consumed his mind and made him shiver when the laugh once again echoed through the dreamscape. This laugh made one memory resurface his mind at this point: **humanity will fall, and I will rise**. "It was you who showed me this dream, wasn't it?!" Everything went quiet for a second, before a demoniac voice rang through his mind:_

_"**wHy dO YoU asK?**" It questioned._

_"Why are you doing this?"_

_"**i cAn'T TeLl YoU, PeSKy HUmAn.**" It answered. "**BuT I cAn MaKe A dEaL WiTh yOu.**" Dipper raised an eyebrow. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't good, for sure. Dipper started walking backwards, wishing to magically trip onto a portal or something, but there was none. That was until he bumped into a wall; an invisible wall that 'wasn't supposed to be there'. "**tRYiNg To RuN aWAy, aRe wE?**"_

_"What do you want from me?" Dipper asked in despair. "I don't even know what you are!" He felt a cool sensation on his head again, and, due to the lack of any light, Dipper discovered his birthmark was glowing again. Dipper raised an eyebrow upon feeling something wet touching him from his feet to knees and looked down. There was water under him, and it was rising every second. Dipper could see, due to the water's reflection, a birthmark – that had the shape of the Big Dipper – glowing on his forehead._

_"**i Am tRyInG tO sHoW YoU tHe rEaLiTy, KiD.**" The voice that once seemed to be gone was back. "**ThIs wOrLd Is cRuEl AnD MeRcIlEsS, sO yoU SHouLD Be CaReFul WiTh WhO yOu TrUsT.**" The creature didn't have a mouth, but Dipper could feel it grinning at him. And, now, the water had reached his waist. Dipper blinked before processing what was going on: he would drown. Dipper immediately panicked. He didn't forget that he could swim, but then what? He couldn't swim for the rest of his life. "**So, wHaT iS It gOiNg tO bE?**" Dipper closed his eyes. He couldn't make another deal. Not now that he already had one._

_"Go… Away…" He managed to whisper, before feeling the water halfway to his chest. Dipper was terrified. From where he was standing, leaning against the invisible wall, the blunette could feel the thing's disappointment, but this emotion soon turned into a grin as the creature sniggered._

_"**wElL, iF yOu cHaNgE YoUr MiND i'Ll sTiLl bE HeRe.**" It said. The water had reached Dipper's chest and was almost reaching his neck. "**ReMeMbEr: WhEn GrAvItY fAlLs aNd eArTh bEcOmEs sKy, fEaR tHe bEaSt WiTh JuSt oNE eYe.**"_

_And it was gone. The presence was gone; the creature was gone. Dipper realized what was going on: the creature abandoned him. Of course it would be this way; it was **always **this way. He would always be betrayed and abandoned. "Ariadne…" Dipper whispered the name that crossed his mind. The water had reached his chin and was still rising. Soon, Dipper would drown. He closed his eyes, trying to remember who Ariadne is, and who she **had been** to him._

**_"You must trust me; no matter what."  
"Life is meaningless, isn't it?"  
"We all die one day."  
"Forgive me, Dipper."  
"fEeD."  
_****"I'm sorry."**

_The water finally surrounds him completely, making Dipper drown. He feels himself relaxing, but was still conscious enough to realize the mistake he had done…_

**_. . ._**

_It's so cold…  
Everything's black; I can't see…  
I cannot breathe…_

**_. . ._**

_My body stiffens at every sound I hear…  
Why can't I move? What is this feeling?_

**_. . ._**

_Somebody…  
Save me…_

**_. . ._**

_I see deaths.  
I see people screaming for mercy.  
I see murderers.  
I see corruption._

**_. . ._**

_What do I seek? Forgiveness? Redemption? What do **I** seek? What does humanity seek? Is that what we seek? Revenge? Or peace?_

**_. . ._**

_It's so cold….  
It's so dark here…  
Where am I?_

**_. . ._**

_Please, somebody save me.  
Save me…  
Please…  
Bill…_

**_. . ._**

_"Pine Tree…"  
Hopes are lost…  
"Pine Tree?"  
Promises are broken…_

**_. . ._**

_"Pine Tree!"  
Please…  
"PINE TREE!"  
Bring me back…  
"**PINE TREE!**"  
To light…_

**_. . ._**

I wake up in a jolt; all of my muscles stiffen at the sound of wings flapping around me. My eyes are open, but I see nothing. I start a coughing fit when I try to talk at first; it is pretty harsh, but I knew it would stop soon. My throat hurts and burns, even if I haven't said anything. Had it all been a dream? I blink a few times and I get my sight back. The first thing I can see is the clearing. The memories of what happened before resurface my mind and I can analyze everything better: Ariadne. She deceived me… Why would she do that? At what cost?

The sky had a soft blue color, indicating it was already dawn. My coughing fit stops eventually, and I do everything to prevent another one. It takes me a few seconds to realize the warmth around me, and I discover I'm being pressed against someone's chest, with two arms surrounding me. I look up.

It's Bill Cipher. The whole world around me seemed to stop. He didn't bother looking at me. His eyes were closed tightly, as if just seeing me would made me fade into an eternal darkness. I am too tired to move, but I'm sure I can talk. And the first thing I say had to be a question:

"Bill… Why are you crying?"

* * *

**A/N: OOC, KILL IT WITH FIRE!**

**You all are pretty confused, aren't you? I like doing that to people because they don't comment enough on my stories. As your punishment, you will spend one week on a CLIFFHANGER! I dunno if that'd be one week, alright, but you all get it. To answer your questions: yes, there will be Bill's side of the story and YES YOU'LL KNOW WHY HE IS CRYING. Yes, Bill's acting OOC but who doesn't do that nowadays? XD ANYWAY there WILL be an explanation of why he is crying. LATER.**

**And, now, _THE CHALLENGE_:**

**(1) The song at the beginning of the episode is Bad Apple, from Touhou/Cristina Vee. Whose theme song this is from? Tip: it's from one of the 15 main characters. Put in the reviews who you think this theme song is from! :)**

**Yeah, there will be FIFTEEN main characters because I can. This challenge will be one of the main things that will make me enjoy the reviews. Please, people, do the challenge because the prize I'm planning will be GREAT. I know you'll like it :) it has to do with the story, if you want to know. And DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN THE CLIFFHANGEEEEEEER! Hahahahahahaha!**

**Here are the avaliable characters for now:**

**\- Dipper  
\- Bill  
\- Keehnesi  
\- Beatrice  
\- Asaph  
\- Daniel  
\- Danna  
\- Ariadne**

**There will be more soon, but these are the only ones now because I need to develop the other characters better and you'll know their theme songs! Well, I'm updating the list when there are changes ok? Thanks, dontforget1!**

**Also, here is a second question for you!  
****(2) _Why_ is Bill crying?**

**I want to see you suffer trying to find out XD Well, that's all for now! This chapter isn't as big as the previous one (it has 'only' 2.600 words), but it's very LONG, when talking about length, right? Sorry, not good at math. Anyway, I'm outta this.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	17. Episode 17

**Episode 17: The hunt for the truth.****  
**Arc: "Awakening"**  
**Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.****

**. . .**

_"…It was him who killed all the fallen angels."_

Danna and Daniel exchanged worried glances upon hearing these words. Something told Danna to stay, because this would be dangerously funny, but Daniel had other plans that involved getting Danna and running out of there as fast as they could. Asaph, on the other hand, was worried for his friends. That was an extremely dangerous mission that could go wrong in many hellish ways; that is the only reason you need to run away as fast as your legs allow you to, until you trip or something – like he did.

However, this hunt would lead them to the truth, and he was afraid that they would abandon it because of this important information about Bill's son – a touchy yet intriguing subject. Their own mentors forbid them to talk about it and cancelled the lessons right after they started talking about the subject! Daniel's facial expression showed how 'happy' he was about the idea – and probably would never agree with it, depending on his mood. However, a few seconds after he said that, Danna gave her truthful opinion about the subject.

"If that hunt's going to make us understand this freaking mess, then I'm in!" And nothing would change her mind. Daniel sighed at his sister's stubbornness and thirst for adventures… And anything that involves her in danger. That was something so impressive to see, according to Asaph. He did know Danna was crazy at the point of almost putting her in an asylum, but he didn't know she was crazy enough to risk her life. There were times where Danna, even if remotely, showed true fear of losing her own life due to: pointy objects, venom, wild animal attacks, etc. Her answer was unexpected, but Asaph understood her thirst for knowledge and truth.

"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" Danna smirked at her twin, noticing how she got him in as well just by agreeing with the mission. He really cared about her well-being, after all – and she had always known that, and he had always shown that. "Asaph, I hope you know what you're doing." Daniel warned while glaring at his partner with flashing green eyes that showed danger, but then changed his voice tone to something doubtful, interrupting the black-haired when he was about to talk. "Also, what will we do if our mentors come? _What _will we tell them?"

"I w–"

"They might already know what we are doing, you know." Asaph sighed, after being interrupted, and nodded at his friend's concern, because it wasn't just a simple worry – it was like messing with spirits, and he had watched The Exorcist once, coming to the conclusion that the main protagonist needed some make up. However, this was not time for questions. It was time for action, and this is why they were there.

"As this mission's leader and the group's brain," Daniel and Danna rolled their eyes at the speech's beginning, but Daniel grinned slightly. He would start again a new 'motivational' speech about… Actually, they zoned out so much during these speeches that they didn't even know what they were about. Asaph was _really _like Keehnesi in a few ways. "I say we must search for clues that will lead us to a definite answer." Asaph narrowed his eyes upon noticing Daniel had zoned out again. "As for the _**mentors**_" He said it with a strong voice tone, snapping Daniel out of his thoughts. ", we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." The twins exchanged glances but nodded in agreement. "Okay, Danna, you go to the east side of the forest. Daniel will go to west and I'll search for anything here. This will be our meeting point in case of our mission failing, ok?" They nodded again.

"If you find something, _anything_, shout or call us – or just shout. I'm sure it will be a way to call us. Okay, let's start this." And, with this, the three high-fived, cheering about their new goal, before splitting and going to different directions. This would be one hell of an afternoon, after all.

_**. . .**_

While walking, Danna had more important things to worry about other than the 'mission'. The first thing was about her feelings, to begin with. She felt so sad and so happy at the same time, like something was missing and found at the same time. It was something she couldn't comprehend, since she almost never had other feelings than the thirst for trouble and pranks at all, or at least after she became eight-years-old. Her brother was the emotional one, but it seems like the 'emotions' were contagious, after all.

The second thing was about everything else.

Their parents were getting suspicious about some things, especially after that day when Daniel managed to put both kids' backpacks on the roof while training object teleportation, in which he sneezed. Things weren't really easy at her home, but she managed to do well. It was kind of hard to explain how two heavy backpacks ended up on the roof, though, but Danna was such a good liar that it was easy to deceive her parents. It was almost like she could deceive herself too. Of course, as half-demons, one of their parents was a demon, but why were they so nervous about discovering their true lineage? Their mom was very religious, unlike their father, so it was obvious their father was a demon. This is maybe why they shouldn't talk about being demons. Knowing this would scare their mom, they had to keep this a secret, because maybe she didn't know about their father. A divorce to pry their family apart was the last thing they wanted.

Living in Gravity Falls was a good idea – or it _seemed _to be, at first. Their parents had the idea when Danna and Daniel turned ten and when she was expelled from yet another school. The Saeryd children, dubbed the new 'trouble twins' – as people used to call them (because, back then, Daniel also pulled pranks on people so he wouldn't feel too lonely), had always been fascinated with supernatural beings and actions after they became less shy and reserved, which began with Danna. However, while Daniel preferred to read about them other than going around hunting barf fairies and stuff like that, Danna was more like the exploring type, always wandering around and never stopping at one place. However, she had never left the town to go anywhere, especially the forest, because it sounded 'threatening and dangerous', according to Dan. And he was pretty good when it came to persuasion, so she would never go there.

That was until their first mission given by their mentors, when they had to go to that forest and discovered a field of venomous flowers while fighting a deadly lizard with wings. How ironic is that? And it was even funnier because Danna thought these flowers weren't threatening in any way, and almost touched them because of her 'naivety' when it comes to flowers.

Maybe that was why Danna had never seen these flowers in her life.

Because she had never had interest in flowers at all, and because she had never gone to that poor excuse of a forest. In fact, Danna wondered how the citizens of Gravity Falls themselves didn't notice the strange things happening around. Everything was too suspicious to her, but she never thought about actually doing some research about it. And that was her first mistake.

They had almost never left their houses when they were younger – which made them completely oblivious to the world. When Beatrice appeared one simple day telling the 12-year-old twins that they were half-demons and that she was there to get Daniel as her apprentice, Danna was eager to join them – she wanted it so badly, like a child wanting candy during Halloween. Beatrice only wanted one apprentice, especially because they usually get shocked after the secret of being demons is revealed – and that may affect their brain functions in some ways. She once told them that a boy started to throw up rainbows and it was so funny to watch (for the first ten seconds, then it got boring).

However, they were different.

The twins were both so fascinated by the fact they were mystical creatures (even if 'bad' ones) that they were really happy to be demons – even if their 'parents' (or, at least, his mom) were Christians. This made them suspicious since his dad didn't seem to like being a Christian that much and it would make sense if he was a demon. But wouldn't their mother have known, in that case? Daniel said that he wouldn't be Beatrice's apprentice if Danna didn't go with him, and that's how Bea got double trouble with the twins.

"Hmmm…" She murmured while looking at the floor. It was time to stop thinking about the past and start living the present. Danna had to find anything that would tell her the fallen angels were there. She was half-demon, so _in theory _she was able to see their invisible-like feathers.

Maybe that is what she is looking for. Suddenly she sees something in the floor – it's a black and white feather lying on the floor under the soft earth. It was funny that the red-haired didn't see that there at once, especially because it was in the middle of the day and everything black-and-white would be recognizable. Danna's eyes widened in excitement as she grabbed the feather's vane and shouted out loud: "I FOUND SOMETHING!" As soon as she said that, Asaph's voice and his warning rang through her mind like a church's bell:

_"But watch out; if you happen to find one, _**_never _**_touch the vane."_

_**"Never."**_

Danna gasped dramatically as she let the feather fall to the floor near her, and closed her eyes, waiting for the end. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. Danna opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "What? I was supposed to die! Did I become a zombie? No, that wouldn't work… Also, I don't feel like eating brains right now." The red-haired girl told herself as she looked down at the feather and grabbed it from the floor, analyzing it carefully.

She was touching the vane again, but nothing seemed to happen. Yeah, that was awkwardly embarrassing…

She tried to pay attention for the details. The single feather, which miraculously had its vane straight and organized (which is not expected from something that is on the floor), was a mix of black and white. While the black color surrounded the feather, there was a circle of white color in the middle. This feather seemed to be so pretty and perfect that it was hard to believe it was real. Danna was snapped out of her trance when somebody knocked the feather off her hands and onto the floor. The feather fell graciously onto the floor and with the wind. The person wasn't really kidding when he knocked the feather off.

She didn't need to know who it was.

"Are you crazy, Danna?!" It was definitely her younger twin, Daniel. "Asaph told us not to touch the vane. Are you deaf or something?!" This made Danna really angry. Spinning on her heels to face her brother, Danna narrowed her eyes.

"These aren't fallen angels' feathers." She answered simply, catching the feather and clearly touching the vane to make a point. "Remember that bird when it touched the flower and fell dead on that field, when we battled that giant Godzilla-like dragon?" Danna asked. Daniel raised an eyebrow in realization.

"Yes." Asaph answered instead of his friend. "It has been a traumatizing experience for us all. And we know it, because we have lived it. But why do you as- Oh, I get it now. When your skin enters in contact with the venom, it takes a few milliseconds for you to fall dead on the floor. However, you've touched it for more than two seconds when Daniel knocked the feather out of your hands, and now you're touching it for more than five seconds which means this feather does not have any venom."

The black-haired boy nodded before continuing his confusing explanation. "The venom enters through the skin and reaches the nearest vein it can find and infects all the blood vessels and quickly reaches the heart. That causes a painless, yet quick, death." He finished.

"You could've simplified that for me." Daniel said puzzled as he blinked after the large explanation.

His twin didn't seem to care about it.

"Also–" Danna said, handing Asaph the feather. He hesitantly grabbed it, analyzing every inch of it, "–it is black and has one white circle in the middle. Cute and amazing, but I don't get how a feather has such a perfect… Uh, what is the name of that thing…? It's an, uh…" Danna narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to remember the word. Daniel face palmed. Just when he thought his sister was creating some brain cells…

"You mean a pattern?" Asaph suggested. Danna snapped her fingers in agreement.

"Yep, that's the name of it." She nodded, while smiling. "They could've forgotten to put venom in one of the feathers, but did the fallen angels – whatever they are – had wing patterns or something?" Danna asked. Daniel smiled upon noticing how observant his sister was being. For the first time she was really being serious about something – which _almost_made him happy, since Daniel still liked his old sister better: a troublemaker at heart. The troubles she caused the society was what made him happy to be her twin.

Asaph checked the feather twice before handing it to Danna.

"It's not a fallen angel's feather." Asaph stated, glancing at the feather carefully. "They don't have patterns. Each wing has a different color. Black wings for angels, white wings for demons." Daniel had one doubt about the last sentence. That wasn't what he usually heard about demons and angels' wings. Not according to most of the humans – or about 95% of the churches.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" He suggested, making Asaph notice him. "I always thought angels had white feathers since, you know, they're angels – and the white color is the related to light and purity, whilst the black color is related to darkness and evil. Right, Danna?" His twin shrugged in response; she had never cared about colors and their freaking meanings. "Dad told me that. He's a Christian."

"Your father is wrong, then." Asaph said faithfully. He trusted his own knowledge. "That's what humans think and share because they have created meanings for colors. According to the **true**meaning, demons are agitated and unstoppable creatures, while angels are quieter and peaceful. It's the yin-yang rule: the black, passive one, and the white, active one." That was what he once read in a book, and Asaph trusted his book with his own life, like a firefighter or something – books can also save lives by giving people knowledge, you know that? The twins exchanged glances (for the tenth time) before nodding. "Both always the opposite in appearance, but so similar inside…"

"Well, if this is not a fallen angel's feather…" Danna started, hesitating to ask this again, because the answer might not be what she wanted. "…Then, whose feather is this?" Asaph stopped and glared at her; he had never thought about this question. After all, it had to be an unnatural creature, since it had such a beautiful, unnatural feather pattern. He had never seen a demon with a feather like this before.

"…I don't know." Danna and Daniel face palmed. "But the pattern is too well-designed. Whoever this thing is, it is not human, angel, demon or anything related to these three." Asaph extended his hand to grab the feather.

Danna gave it to him again, wondering why a feather like this would be so important. "It has no venom, which indicates it is not a fallen angel's, but it is not a demon or angel's as well…" Asaph's eyes widened. "You know what, I'll keep this. I think I know whose feather this is."

"Fine…" Danna nodded, a little angry that her friend decided to keep a feather that _she_had found, not him. "…As long as you return it to me later."

"Sure." Asaph rolled his eyes in amusement. He put the feather in his jacket's pocket and turned to the twins, clapping his hands to get their attention (though this action wasn't really needed). "So, have you two found any other clues?" The twins shook their heads and Daniel started protesting, as well as his sister did.

"We've just _started_out 'hunt' – like, five minutes ago –, why do you expect us to find something so fast? We're not super heroes, you know that?" The male twin asked in indignation, throwing his hands in the air, as he started to look around, seeing if there were some more clues. At finding none and not even bothering to look behind, he turned to Asaph and narrowed his eyes. "And it's not like we're going to find clues out of nowhere and…"

"What's that?" Danna asked pointing to a paper pinned in a tree behind Daniel. The red-haired boy turned his head and groaned in frustration upon seeing a notebook's paper attached to an old tree, because if he had _actually_turned around, he would have _obviously_noticed it. Daniel walked to the tree and yanked the paper off, looking at it. Asaph and Danna peeked from behind his shoulders, trying to get a better look, thought they could've just stayed at his side for a better view of the paper. The letters were blurry, but were good enough to read.

"I'm sure that, by the riddle-looking appearance, we will never understand this." Danna said in a negative aura. Asaph and Daniel sighed at the girl's pessimism.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll understand." Daniel affirmed his sister, who shrugged. He had watched and read many things about riddles, and that was the time to use what he had learned in the movies – apart from the part where you're a side character and you die. They started to read, and Daniel did it out loud since he was the one holding the paper and with a better vision of the letters:

_**. . .**_

_**The truth you seek is near; to solve this case,**_**_  
_Three challenges you will face,_  
_To banish the once forgotten heritage,__**

_**The truth is in the books you see,**_

_**Two steps forward, one step back,**_  
_**But be careful and beware,**_  
_**Humanity will see darkness and fear**_**his**_**wrath.**_

_**. . .**_

"…There is nothing about this I understand." Daniel states firmly, making Danna roll her eyes as she had predicted that. "What about you guys?" While Asaph narrowed his eyes at the paper, trying to find anything that would be a clue, Danna shrugged at her brother – as if saying 'I don't care'. "Okay, let's start slowly…" Daniel reads the paper again. "Okay, I don't get anything about that, even if I read it like a snail. Do you have any clue, Aph?" The red-haired turned to his black-haired friend.

The raven-haired one nodded as he grabbed the paper from Daniel's hand, pointing to the fourth paragraph.

"This talks about books, so it's obviously about the library." Asaph smirked, feeling a new adventure coming. "Finally we'll get some clues about this case! In this case, we'll have to have a leader – and I nominate myself the leader; let's go to the library!" He started walking away, smiling just for choosing himself as the leader. _Just when I thought one Danna was enough, this guy appears, but his bragging is much more charming than Danna's. At least he's smart and may help us; also, I must admit he's good as a leader, _Daniel thought as he rolled his eyes and started following Asaph.

Danna did the same, going behind her brother, but was totally zoning out. _Heritage once forgotten…?_Danna's eyes widened as a few ideas passed through her mind like rockets. _Could it be…? _She sighed and rolled her eyes while smiling, noticing how dumb her idea actually was. _Of course not, silly! It's not possible that he is alive in any way. _**_You _**_would have noticed since you're super observant!_

And, with that thought, she snapped out of her dream-like state and went to Asaph and Daniel's side, the smile still plastered on her face – but, instead of the usual grin, it was a soft smile that every little girl has when she sees something pleasant or receives a great birthday or Christmas present. The three preteens barely knew they were being observed. The creature, lingering in the shadows and observing quietly, narrowed its eyes at them.

_"_**_It seems like they have discovered the first clue._**_" _It whispered silently, flying through the sky swiftly and passing through the clouds of water. The creature laid its glazing white eyes on the three kids heading to Gravity Falls' library, eager to discover more about this case and about anything else. That was the purpose of life, wasn't it? Discovering more about the world?

_"_**_A heritage once forgotten, soon to be banished._**_" _The creature quoted as it landed on a tree that was next to the library. As the kids opened the door and entered, it narrowed its eyes – if the creature had a mouth, it would be grinning in victory; because it had finally done it.

_"_**_Finally, it is my turn to get my revenge on you, Cipher._**_"_

* * *

**A/N (Important) : You really thought I'd make you wait a week? Haha, you humans are hilarious! No, wait a sec...**

**Yep, I'm back with a new brand chapter in 3 days! And, yes, it's HELLISHLY BIG. I kinda calculated everything and this story will have, I dunno... *secret whisper* More than 50 chapters apparently. First I really want you guys to READ MY FREAKING PROFILE because I have some news about the challenge and everything will be explained there. So those who are interested in my challenge, please read it. PLEASE. I beg you so stop asking me questions XD I'm such a douchebag, I know, but let's be serious, I can't keep explaining this for eternity.**

**So, here are the QUESTIONS! Quiz time!:**

**(1) Whose feather could this be?  
(2) What have you understood from the riddle?  
(3) Who is the mysterious creature talking at the end of the chapter? What does it want?  
(4) What will the trio PROBABLY find at the end of their little 'hunt'?  
(5) What is the 'forgotten heritage'?**

**Yes, there WILL be an episode with Bill's side, but I decided to give a little more attention to the 'side characters' for a while. There will be a switch between POVs so you will see both Bill's POV and the trio's POV during their hunt. Welp, I've explained everything. So I'M OUT!  
**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	18. Episode 18

**"**There's no escape now, no mercy no more. No remorse 'cause I still remember the smile when you tore me apart. [...] You took my heart, deceived me right from the start. […] You broke a promise and made me realize… It was all just a lie. […] Fallen angel, tell me why?**"**

— Within Temptation, Angels.

. . .

**Episode 18: Painful memories.  
Arc: "Awakening"  
Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**_. . ._**

"Bill… Why are you crying?"

**_. . ._**

**_"What do you fight for…?"_**

**_. . ._**

_"Daddy, listen!" A young kid – no older than twelve – shouted while tugging at his father's pants in an attempt to claim his attention. "Can I go out, pretty please? I promise I'll be back before seven!" The child was jumping up and down in ecstasy while his white hair was all around his head and there was a dangerous glint in his golden eyes, though that gleam was not unusual for those who had seen the child before. The father, a young man appearing to be around 17, looked down at his son and smile lightly seeing the child so excited; few things in his entire existence would make his life meaningful, and that child was one of them. He wouldn't be surprised since the boy had almost never left the manor, cue the outside being more of a privilege than a right._

_"Of course, if you don't hurt yourself or something." The older demon replied with ease as the 12-year-old-looking child nodded while running away towards the door, eager to escape from the castle's soul-crushing arms that held him for longer than needed. When the boy was already near the door, hang hovering above the door's handle, he shouted: "And remember to come before seven!" The younger one nodded slightly before closing the door behind him, as the room fell in silence; perhaps in earlier days, he would have found the silence amusing and perhaps comforting, but now all silence brought was tragedy. The teenager leaned against a wall and watched the door closing with a cringe worthy sound before letting out a sigh, which contained more exasperation than anything else._

_"Sounds like you're thinking, young master." A young woman with tan skin and black hair swiftly approached the blond man as he nodded at her. Her sudden appearance would have startled him, but after years of having to deal with this, he had gotten used to it._

_"It's nothing." The demon she deemed her 'master' answered. "Where are Bartholomew and Beatrice, Layre? They said they'd be here shortly." The woman, Layre (his servant), shrugged lightly; she was wondering that as well. "Go fetch them for me, please." The servant woman nodded and left. The blond, however, couldn't stop staring at the manor's front door, imagining if his son was okay. Perhaps he was being too paranoid, but then again, everyone was paranoid when you were in a constant threat of being killed for the sake of it. "Everything is fine, Bill… He's a smart brat; of course he'll be fine…" But being a father wasn't so easy, especially when you were a demon full of other demons wishing to take your child's life away._

_"Are you talking to yourself again, little brother?" Someone tapped him in the shoulder. The demon, Bill, turned to face his siblings: Beatrice and Bartholomew Cipher, the only ones in the world who he could count on 57% of the time. "Why did you call us?" With all this commotion, Bill had narrowly forgotten that he had ordered his servant to call his siblings. Bartholomew, the demon with conspicuous bright pink hair, looked around but couldn't find his nephew anywhere, which was downright suspicious. Beatrice, also having a flashy blue hair, seemed to notice the 12-year-old-looking child's absence as well._

_"So, where's the little racket?" Bartholomew asked. Bill turned to face him, already getting used to his brother calling his son a 'racket' – which was partially true since he was always running around as if in a sugar rush or something; that was a true demon's nature, so Bill didn't know why his brother would deem such thing as unusual. _

_"He's somewhere outside." Bill answered bluntly whilst crossing his arms in impatience. "Also, I think we should already teach him how to use his powers. He's growing older, so it's better to start soon. The younger he starts learning, the more we can teach him in a smaller timespan." Beatrice nodded at him while adjusting the black ribbon she always wore around her neck – maybe a fancy way to show how she was royalty, although there were only theories. Bartholomew knew Bill would say this someday – nevertheless, this wouldn't be an easy thing, because young demons usually had their powers out of control, and it seemed to be even harder for them to get a grip of that power than most demons._

_"We should wait a little more." The pink-haired one suggested. "Maybe when he's 1400 years old we can start. His powers are still unstable."_

_"That's not true." Bill argued._

_"He exploded a whole room yesterday, Bill. He almost burned the entire manor to ashes trying to control a candle, Bill. He almost killed us three trying to summon a nightmare, Bill." And Bartholomew passed from talking to yelling, and from yelling to shouting. It seemed like the pink demon was about to punch a hole in the wall, but controlled himself. Also, Bill sniggering at him wasn't making it any better. His son never meant to do any of those things, but even if they were accidental, he was still proud; the child could bring chaos wherever he went even when it was unwanted. He could understand how his son had more power than the average demon, but Keehnesi was more cautious than he was, and, maybe, a little more rational as well._

_"Yeah, Bart, it was just like us three when we were young, wasn't it?" Beatrice rolled her eyes upon hearing that._

_"It was just like **you**, brother. But your son doesn't do this willingly, unlike you." Bill snorted in either displeasure or amusement at the statement. "Well, we should go. Father is calling us for another important reunion, and this one is about to start. You know what he did last time you were late for an important reunion, so you had better get ready now." Bill sighed in boredom – he almost yawned to prove that. His worst nightmare was being stuck in a reunion forever; sometimes he had nightmares about that. Hopefully, if he distracted himself long enough, that reunion would go fast and he would be the first one to bolt out of the room._

_"Fine, fine, but it better end soon. I hate these damn reunions."_

_"Language, Bill." Bartholomew scolded. 'Well, a demon scolding another demon about language? How curious', Bill thought, knowing very well that his brother could hear him – demons could read minds, after all. "And these reunions, no matter how boring, are important, okay?" Bill then yawned to show how much he cared, but nodded and followed his siblings out of the main hall. As they entered one room near the main hall, the discussion about their economy started, almost like a trigger. Three minutes into the reunion and Bill wasn't even listening to what they were saying, because no one would ask him anything anyway. Also, he couldn't care less about politics and the stuff that was being discussed._

_However, as time passed, Bill started to grow worried because it was almost 7 pm and his son hadn't returned. If he did, the white-haired child would have opened the door without any politeness and started running around; it was always like this – most demons in the room would be annoyed, but the child was royalty, and they were mostly peasants and upper-class citizens that were under that class of royalty, so they would have to hold their tongues. But, this time, nothing happened – the reunion carried on with absolute bliss, no interruptions. For some, it was a dream, but Bill felt a tug at his heart. Had something happened to his boy? He didn't want to risk it. No, he couldn't. _

_Bill had to wait for the reunion to end._

**_. . ._**

_He was barely listening to the words his father was pronouncing._

_Every second was a torture as Bill sunk in his chair from utter boredom – his main goal was now becoming one with that chair as they had bonded for more years than he had counted and they would surely be together for more years to come. Bill was still listening, however, because he had nothing else to do, and the monotone voice of his father was the only thing to soothe his inner self and conceal his worry. He wanted to be with his son, playing and fooling around. Memories of when he was young resurfaced the demon's mind as he wanted to live these moments again. Maybe one day he would do that. And then he started thinking about his own son. _

_The child was very agitated and it was hard to make him calm down, though he was very obedient too. The child's golden eyes were hypnotizing and it was hard to deny him something. Even Bartholomew would go easy on him sometimes. He had everyone wrapped around his finger, even his own grandfather most of the time, and he got used to having that kind of power quickly. And it was also almost impossible to think of him as a 1200-year-old, especially because of his overly childish and happy behavior. It was hard to make him sad, but not impossible – it was like every bit of innocence and happiness gathered around one material form and invaded its body, and thus, that child was born._

_A big problem, however, was the child's powers. Bill couldn't speak in details about that, but his son needed training as soon as possible, because his powers were getting out of control and if they were not managed, they would explode one day, and that was risky because, without proper training and not knowing how to control the powers within, the fledgling was practically a walking atomic bomb. If his powers got out of control ever so slightly, being so powerful, the child could cause mayhem not only in hell but in heaven and Earth too._

_That was it, he was going to train his son – Bartholomew wanting it or not._

**_. . ._**

_It was just one more hour until the reunion's end._

_And Bill couldn't handle it anymore._

_He really needed to go out and see the sunlight, feel the earth and seek for fun as fast as possible; it was like he was losing all sense of reality – Bill was no longer one with the chair, he was one with the politics themselves. Reunions were his dreaded enemy because they were useless, really. Hell was a peaceful place, for the most part (if you excluded the danger of death everywhere), and there was no need of constant reunions. He was worried about his son, and his safety; he couldn't risk anything, because the child was the only thing he had left – apart from his siblings. After a few more minutes doing nothing, he immediately started thinking about **her**._

_Bill met **her **during the sunset, and her blue eyes were the most enchanting thing he had seen in the entire galaxy. Her smile was soft as well as her laughs, and her voice was addictive and sweet like honey. She was the most perfect woman in the entire world. After centuries of being taught that demons were meant to be harrowing, heartless and bloodthirsty creatures not meant to feel anything but hatred, she proved all of those things to be wrong; for the first time, Bill felt something other than those impulsive, bestial feelings, he felt **love**. But she was gone. She had abandoned him, left him alone in the world. But, years before that, Bill discovered he wasn't alone at all. She had left him a present. She had left him a child; **his **child._

_He loved her… Why did she have to go? Why did she have to disappear so soon?_

_Why did he lose everyone he loved? Wait, he hadn't lost everyone…_

_He hadn't lost his son yet._

_And he would never lose him. It was a promise._

_Never._

**_. . ._**

_When it finally ended, at 8 pm, Bill was the first to stand up and go through the door, opening it to quickly that the door was almost torn off its hinges – everyone thought it was normal since he hated these reunions and would be the first one to scramble from the group of businessmen that he was obligated to tolerate for four hours as he was confined inside a room for the sake of it. He opened the main door and the first thing he did was search through the forest, because that is where his son used to spend his time outside. Bill found out his task would be far more difficult because the forest was really big and, in hell, without his omniscience he was practically useless. _

_Bill searched everywhere, but his son was nowhere to be seen. He was starting to lose his hope when something caught his attention._

_Deep in the forest, there was a bright blue light coming from a clearing. Bill found it unusual and started to walk towards the forest. When he finally reached the open field, Bill's chest tightened upon seeing the scene, as he tried to convince himself that this was not what it seemed, even though reality begged to differ. At the middle of the clearing, surrounded by crow-looking creatures, the corbos, on the floor, laid his son, completely unconscious, even dead. Bill's eyes widened as he stiffened for a few seconds, before his muscles tensed and he gained a boost in speed and strength Bill never thought he had, running towards his son and trying to reach him, but every step looked like it lasted 5 minutes._

_Bill opened his large white wings in a flash and used them as a shield against the birds who were trying to make their way to the child; he had to keep them away from his body, both his and the child's alike. Bill conjured a shield that protected them, but, if these damned birds were as stubborn as he hoped they weren't, they would find a way to tear the shield down. Luckily, seeing that they couldn't do anything else other than stare and attempt to break through the barrier, which seemed like an impossible task, the horde of birds nodded at each other and flew away. Upon noticing they were gone, Bill turned his attention to the limp body in his arms._

_"Son?" He asked softly, wanting an answer, demanding an answer. "Son, please wake up!" He tried shaking the child's body, but nothing happened. The boy did not move, nor did he bother to. His skin was cold and he had no pulse; the gleam that once surrounded his tiny soul was completely gone, vanished, ripped apart from him. Bill's heart started beating even faster at the thought of losing his only child, the only thing he could still care about. "Please, son, don't die! You're the only thing I have left in this world! Please…" Tears were brimming at the corner of Bill's eyes and he did nothing to stop them from falling. "No…" It was too late. The soul crumbled inside of his son, turning into ashes._

_"Don't leave me alone…"_

_One tear slid down Bill's cheek and fell onto the child's forehead. Bill hugged his dead son's body even tighter. He had tried to protect him from everything, but he failed; had his protection spells not been enough? Why did they fail? Were they too weak to make a difference? Why did that have to happen? It could've been anyone, literally anyone, even his siblings. These damned birds could've killed someone else, anyone; but why his son? The only thing he had left? Bill had never thought he would succumb to negative human emotions once more ever since the loss of the love of his life; emotions like sadness, anger and fear, as he had once succumbed to love. He started sobbing uncontrollably._

_It was lost. _

_Everything was lost for him._

**_. . ._**

_I'm so sorry._

_I am so sorry…  
I failed you, I failed everyone.  
I tried to protect our son, but I'm so useless.  
I failed you…  
I failed you because I couldn't protect you either…  
I'm sorry…_

_…I'm sorry, my dear…_

**_. . ._**

_I hope you can forgive me…_

_Forgive me, **Azalea**._

**_. . ._**

_However, as soon as he was going to stand up and give up, carrying his child's corpse, something touched his cheek, wiping away one tear._

_No; someone._

_Bill silently gasped as he looked down. Two golden eyes were staring at him with a curious and weak glance – the light in them were dim, but it was impressive how he managed to handle it and carry on like nothing had happened. The child smiled for the first time since Bill had last seen him, and, again, tears were brimming at the corner of his eyes, but this time they were from happiness. The child's smile faded and, this time, he frowned._

_"Daddy… I was climbing a tree when these scary birds came. But they're gone now, aren't they, Daddy?"_

**_. . ._**

**_"What do you fight for…?"_**

**_. . ._**

_"Daddy?"_

**_. . ._**

**_"What do you fight for…?"_**

**_. . ._**

_"Daddy…"  
"…Why are you crying?"_

* * *

**A/N: Heya, it's me! Or not, maybe I'm not myself! *Gasp* I'm not me! *punches myself* Ouch. Ok, I am me.**

**I'm really random at doing these A/Ns because I'm kinda lonely inside ;-; Okay, not being emotional today! Also, I'm posting this at 3:30 am so you guys better enjoy it XD Also, I'm thinking about cancelling the challenge. Maybe I'll do something else for a prize. This whole 'challenge' thing is kinda confusing :P I'll just cancel it. Sorry, guys.**

**So, what did you think of the chapter? Every time I read the previous chapters I think 'did I seriously write that?' but I can't help it. I sometimes really want to delete the entire fic and re-write it but, nah... So, a few more questions:**

**(1) Did that explain things a little bit or I just confused you more?  
(2) One thing I need to know: how is the fanfic? I feel like it's the lamest thing I've ever written DX**

**So that's it. Thanks for reading!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	19. Episode 19

**Episode 19: Books, secret doors, codes, Russia and us.  
Arc: "Awakening"  
Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**_. . ._**

"So… What do we do now?"

They were already inside the library, checking every possible book. However, their task would be more difficult than ever with hundreds of books to be checked, gathering dust and covered in loads of fingerprints from the air. Danna wasn't even bothering to look inside the books; she just checked the cover and then put them back to the shelf, as if that would help; actually, it looked more like _throwing _them back. Daniel was checking every book that Danna left behind, attempting to fix her mistakes as well, and Asaph was doing the same thing with other books, especially the old ones. Finally, the red-haired female twin groaned as she 'checked' her fifteenth book, letting it fall to the floor in frustration.

"Guys, let's face it" Danna was only not shouting right now because that was a library and she didn't want to be shushed again, so she kept a normal voice tone. ", it's getting late and it's going to be hard to find it if we have to read every book of the town. Why don't we search for another clue? Or we can grab some kids and force them to be our minions! Yeah, that could work." Daniel and Asaph rolled their eyes, even if that wasn't a bad idea, but they weren't up to _Danna's_ level of corruption.

"That's not just a 'stupid hunt', Danna." Asaph said, trying to reason with her. "This may lead us to many secrets, you know? There might be big things inside this riddle, and we may even discover something astonishing! Like the outstanding discovery of the penicillin, the second law of thermodynamics, Isaac Newton's laws or the discovery of fire; we can surpass great and important people of history like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin! Can't you see that?" He smirked at his own thoughts. "We may also find Mesoamerican gold, dinosaur fossils or rare pirate treasures, putting our own government and the big incorporations like the ICBC in the doghouse!"

"I'd like you to translate that for me because I understood nothing, none, zero, zilch and nada." Danna deadpanned, crossing her arms and leaning against a nearby wall to rest her back for a second. Asaph's grin faded and turned into a frown as he realized his words were completely wasted. "You know what? Never mind. Just give me that God damned paper and I'll check something else, because I'm very clever." Daniel grinned at his sister's selfishness and pride.

"Of course you are." He quoted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "You just don't use that brain of yours, which explains why it's rotting." Danna also rolled her eyes and elbowed him playfully, and then he did that as well. Asaph sighed in defeat and handed Danna the paper. She hastily grabbed it from his hands and started reading.

"Hmmm, nothing here makes sense- Wait!" She pointed to the fifth paragraph. This time, Daniel and Asaph approached her to take a look. "Dan, doesn't this phrase sound a little familiar?" Daniel narrowed his eyes at the paragraph before his eyes widen and he snaps his fingers, realization hitting him hard. Of course he should have noticed; his sister, who isn't exactly the smartest person in the world (that role belonged to Asaph), had noticed it! How had he been so dumb at the point of missing such a simple thing?! Asaph raised an eyebrow at both of them.

"Of course it does." He answered simply and nonchalantly. "That was Vladimir Lenin's catchphrase, was it not? That's because he used both capitalism and socialism during his government, right?" Danna shrugged.

"I kind of snoozed on that part, but if you say so…" Daniel and Asaph face palmed. "It's because our history's book cover has this title, so I think we have to find a book about Germany's history, right?" Daniel and Asaph double face palmed, because just one face palm wasn't enough to demonstrate their frustration when Danna said 'Germany'. The red-haired tilted her head to the side, wondering what she had done wrong. "What is it? Is there something on my teeth?"

"Lenin is from _Russia_, Danna. From _RUSSIA_!" Her twin said before shouting, and then being shushed by lots of people who were near him, trying to focus on their books. Daniel rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "It's going to take forever to find a book about Russia's backstory here, but we have to try. Let's go." The three nodded to each other before going to different directions.

Asaph scanned the whole shelf before his eyes stopped on one book that said: "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back – Lenin's Life". Without hesitating, and gritting his teeth due to the weird rearrangement of words, Asaph grabbed it from the shelf rather roughly and went back to their 'meeting point'. He opened the book carefully, passing his eyes through the dirty and dusty pages, trying to find anything. Finally, he turned the last page. One piece of paper fell from the book to the floor. Asaph kneeled down to grab it. The writing, just like before, was blurry, but he managed to read it anyway:

**_The forest is the key  
don't underestimate him._**

"Ah, you found something." A feminine voice asked, making Asaph get up in a jolt and turn around, just to see the Saeryd twins standing next to him. He _almost _breathed out in relief, but prevented himself from doing so. "What is this?" It was Danna, who was now peeking from behind his shoulder, trying to get a better view of the paper. "What does it say?" Asaph looked at her, and then at the paper again, getting slightly worked up due to her impatience.

"It says: the forest is the key, don't underestimate him." The three exchanged glances for a few seconds before Asaph closed the book, putting it back on the shelf it was previously, as he put the paper inside his pocket, along with the other one. "Okay; then we are going to the forest. We'll try to discover what the second part means later." Danna smirked while Daniel was growing worried. "Let's go." The three passed through the library's door and now were heading to the forest, where they had been before.

Meanwhile, the creature that was once watching them was now observing from another tree's branch. "**_You will soon feel what I've felt, Cipher._**"

**_. . ._**

"I think we're lost."  
"We're not lost."  
"Where are we, anyway?"  
"Danna, shut up."  
"Do you guys have a map or something?"  
"I have a compass right here, and we're going north. Now shut up."  
"Feels like south to me…"  
"Can't you just-"  
"We're totally lost."  
"CAN YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP?!"

Asaph was already feeling a headache coming, especially because Danna was getting on his nerves right now. Upon hearing his shout, the twins immediately fell silent. Daniel, ignoring the previous lecture, looked down at the compass. Danna rolled her eyes until she tripped onto something, falling down to the floor with a 'thud' and face-first. "Ouch! Heck! Why does every bad thing in the world has to happen to _me_?!" She complained while standing up with Asaph's help.

"That's called _Karma_, dearest sister." Daniel said, his voice filled with irony, grinning.

"Can it." Danna ordered.

Asaph, ignoring the two idiots arguing behind him, kneeled down to analyze what Danna had bumped into. It was some sort of lever. Asaph thought well before doing anything: would that lead to the end of the world? Was he willing to probably risk humanity's safety just for a hunt? The black-haired boy had learned from his mother to always think of his actions' consequences before doing anything that could have bad or good consequences. He had also learned that from his mentor, Keehnesi, but in a deeper way.

"I think we should get out more, Daniel." Danna suggested with a smile. "We used to stay inside our house every day, but now we're actually having some fun! And we're out, right? And every time we go to town people give us strange looks like we're outcasts or something. I think they think: 'hey, look at these twins living in that strange house! I didn't even know they existed!' and things like that." Daniel crossed his arms as he put his compass inside his jacket's pocket.

"I agree, but sometimes you cross the line." Danna smirked at the statement, mainly because it was true. The red-haired boy soon ignored his sister and turned to his friend who was kneeling down and checking something. "Asaph, what are you doing?" Asaph, upon hearing his friend, stood up and turned to the twins, pointing to the floor where the hidden lever was. Danna raised an eyebrow upon laying her eyes on the thing, especially because she had not seen it there.

"There's a lever there. I think that's our next clue." He explained. The twins nodded, analyzing it carefully. The lever's color, which was a light brown, matched with the ground's color which probably was why Danna hadn't notice it there in the first place. The red-haired female twin felt relieved upon noticing it wasn't her fault – more or less. "Should I pull it or something?" Asaph was asking for their opinion – if it was safe or not to pull the lever. Danna didn't seem to have understood his question – or pretended she didn't, as usual.

"Of _course_ you shouldn't pull it, you nitwit. Don't you know that modern levers are made to be _kicked_? Like this!" And, without any previous warning, she lunged to the lever and kicked it as hard as she could. Asaph heard the sound of something cracking, though he didn't know if that was the lever that had been kicked or Danna's feet bones.

And then, after the cracking sound, the ground started to tremble under them.

"Congratulations, Einstein; you've caused an earthquake." Daniel commented sarcastically as he tried to keep his balance. Danna shrugged; it was worth it. Asaph, still ignoring these two for his sanity, tried to stand up, but the 'earthquake' got stronger and made him fall on the floor again, forcing him to stay there. Daniel and Danna also fell to the floor after losing their balance. The three were completely hopeless and confused now.

"What the heck is happening? It's like the universe is splitting in two!" Danna said after being quiet for three minutes, listening to the sound of everything under them trembling. Suddenly the ground under them started splitting in two, separating Danna from Daniel and Asaph. She instinctively knew this would end up badly and lunged to them, jumping and falling right on Asaph, who didn't even say a word and threw her to the side. He had more important things to worry about for now. "Okay, I'll shut up now."

However, as soon as she said that, some sort of brick wall started rising from under the ground that had split in two. The wall kept rising until it was five-meter tall. After that, the ground and the whole world stopped trembling; an earthquake hadn't happened, after all. It was still a traumatizing experience for the three preteens who were now paralyzed in front of some magical brick wall. "Okay. I'm going first: what the heck?!" Daniel yelled, breaking the silence.

"Whoa, I've never seen something like that." Asaph said, standing up. The twins mimicked his action. The black-haired teen smiled upon gazing the large, tall, yellow, brick-made wall. It was such eye candy knowing they were finally getting clues, even if one of his colleagues almost ripped the entire town apart; which made him wonder if someone else felt the 'earthquake' or just them. "I'm impressed; Danna's lack of common sense did serve for something, after all." Danna smacked him in the back of the head, her face clearly showing how amused she was (spoilers: she wasn't).

"I'm just not shoving you to the ground and forcing you to eat sand and mud because I'm too traumatized to express my sentiments with words and violence right now." She retorted. Daniel, on the other side, didn't even know what to say; he was speechless. But the excitement of a new adventure and the curiosity made him want to find out what made that wall so special that it was buried under the ground. "So, what do we do now? Stare at that thing all day like it's some kind of modern art we don't understand but pretend we do so people won't judge us?"

"Of course not, Danna. We can't be dilatory right now." Asaph retorted. Danna ignored the wall to muse about the meaning of the word 'dilatory'. The leader stepped ahead and extended his hand to touch the wall, but it didn't move and nothing happened at all. "Hmmm…" Asaph thought, humming to himself. "I think there's some kind of secret code that we have to say out loud to make this open, like in _Ali Baba and the forty thieves_ or something." Danna smirked; now that was something she enjoyed.

"I am the master of secret codes. Step behind and watch me decode this easily!" She said proudly. "Alakazam!" And nothing happens because what Danna just said was plainly stupid. Asaph face palmed, as well as Daniel, but the red-haired decided to join his sister's game because, either way, it would lead them nowhere.

"Hm… Abracadabra!"  
"Shazam!"  
"Openus wallus!"  
"Is that wall seriously not going to move?"

"I think I know!" Danna exclaimed as she took one step forward, her nose almost touching the wall, as she closed her eyes (probably imagining herself winning an Oscar for her discovery of the secret password). "The password is…" She pauses dramatically. "…Password!" And the wall doesn't even move. If it had a face, it would be laughing at them right now. Asaph double face palmed.

"Aw, man." Danna snapped her fingers; she was sure that this would work. Asaph kept both hands in his face, covering his eyes so they wouldn't burn in shame and disgrace because, seriously… Why did he even hang out with these guys? Daniel seemed have an idea after his sister said that.

"Here, let me try." He also stepped forward, closer to the wall like his sister did. He paused dramatically as well. "Password1!" And the wall _didn't _move. Finally something inside Asaph snapped and he pulled the twins' by the hair, forcing eye contact. They weren't even taking the mission seriously! He would expect that from Danna, since she literally kicked and almost broke a lever, but not from her normal-looking twin Daniel.

"You two are idiots, you know that?!" The two exchanged confused glances. Asaph was taking that too seriously and was now about to have a gf (girly fit). And that happened frequently because he always took things too seriously. In that moment, the twins shared the same thought: _that guy needs to relax right now_. "This is a secret passageway that may lead us to the biggest secrets of our _lives_! Or even the **universe**! It's not like that will open when you say _Open Sesame_!" After saying that, the ground under them started trembling again, this time not with the same strength as it had previously…

…And the wall opened.

Asaph stared with wide eyes before double face palming. "I'm **so **done…" He murmured. Danna rolled her eyes.

"I feel that the person who is in charge of the 'secretness' of this code will be fired soon."

* * *

**A/N: I'm back with another episode that has an extremely long and unecessary name!**

**So I figured out a way to make up for the challenge: I will ask you, before the final episode, one question and the person who gives me the best answer will win a prize! It's simple, isn't it? So there. Also, I wanted to say that this chapter had more comedy to make the story lighter so you won't die of angst or something. So, yeah, Asaph going with the Open Sesame tactic! And now, let's ask questions hahahaha!:**

**(1) Have you ever heard of Vladimir Lenin? If so, did you recognize his catchphrase right away in the riddle? :P  
(2) If you were to use a secret password, would you have said 'Open Sesame'? Do you think it's a good or bad security password?  
(3) Hm, what are they going to find inside this mysterious secret passageway?  
(4) Do you think Asaph is pissed? XD**

**So, that's all, and I'm mentally preparing myself for then end of my vacations because they suck. So, bye guys! And, remember, buy gold and send it to me! I'm in need of one gold bar XD Also, this fanfiction will have different plots that will deepen and these plots are called 'arcs', and we've had two now: "Devil's Deal" and "Awakening". There will be, at least, six arcs, I guess.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	20. Episode 20

**Episode 20: Stan's frustration; Mabel's lament; Dipper's nightmare.  
Arc: "Awakening"  
Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**_. . ._**

"Bill… Why are you crying?"

Dipper didn't know what else to ask or say other than that. Yes, he had tons of questions floating around his head, and he _did _want the answers to them, but the blunette couldn't put these questions in words. His memories of the past hours were a blur hovering around as Dipper forced himself to remember what had happened before, and how they ended up like this – like they were in a spider's web, their memories tangled together. His breaths were shallow, though faster than usual, as Dipper attempted to stabilize them – even if he did not exactly fail at this task.

He felt Bill's grip around him tighten after a few minutes of silence, as if the simplest and weakest wind would blow Dipper away to ashes. The preteen could just hear the birds' wings flapping rhythmically as they started singing, announcing the beginning of a new day. The sky was already changing its dark-blue color to a light-blue one, and Dipper could also hear the animals' footsteps, ready to begin the hunt for breakfast. And he hadn't even noticed how his hearing had improved since he had almost… Wait, what had really happened? Dipper felt like a piece of his mind was empty…

"I thought…" Bill's voice echoed through the clearing and Dipper's skull; and suddenly the birds, animals, monsters and all creatures seemed to stop what they were doing to listen. Dipper could no longer hear the song of the birds, the rushes footsteps of the animals, sense the unnatural presence of the monsters; everything was silent for once, as if the world had stopped completely, allowing Dipper to hear his mentor's shaky words and silent whispers. "I thought I had lost you _too_." And then there was a complete silence.

Dipper didn't know what to say; and that was the main reason he stayed quiet, though there were way more reasons, and he could even make a 5-meter long list with them. The shock, the anger, everything else… These sentiments faded with Bill's words. The word 'too' echoed through Dipper's mind and skull; it stayed there, refusing to go away, to leave, attached to Dipper's head like the boy depended on the word; like a drug. What did Bill mean by that? Had he lost someone else? Why did Dipper care so much about this?

And Dipper was so entertained with his own thoughts that he could've ignored the whole world around him if it wasn't for one thing: **_tears_**. He felt one fall on his forehead, and then another, and then another, and then… It took his two seconds to realize these tears were Bill's. His eyes widened upon realizing that Bill – the all-powerful, mighty, smart and tricky demon – was crying. But one question prevailed: Why? Was it over him? Was it over a mere mortal?; or, at least, over a half-mortal?

Suddenly a few memories resurface Dipper's mind, flooding it completely with all the information: every little detail of what had happened last night: Ariadne; her revelation; the walk through the forest; the clearing; her **_betrayal_**. What were her last words before abandoning him? "I'm sorry"? Did that mean she actually regretted what she had done? Heck, he didn't know. Again, Dipper had many questions and wanted the answers to them; he even felt new doubts coming, causing him a new headache: why did she do that? How could he see her, as she revealed being a _ghost_? What were those crow-looking creatures and what were they doing with him? Dipper snapped back to reality when the silence that surrounded them was broken by Bill's next question:

"Can you _walk_?"

Dipper took some time to realize that the dream-demon was talking to him. The blunette blinked, thinking about the question – he was sore and weak, but could walk; or he would try to. Dipper nodded. "I think so…" That was the only answer that had escaped his lips. The rest of his thoughts and words died in his throat. Bill let Dipper on the floor and stood up; any traits that once indicated he had been crying were gone. Dipper stood up as well, knowing he could not waste any more time. As soon as he straightened his back, the preteen felt dizziness take over him, but fought against this nauseous feeling of the world spinning around.

He took the first three steps slowly, adjusting his sight to support the daily light, and then walked over to Bill. Without saying anything else, they headed to the clearing's entrance and only exit; for the first time, Dipper felt himself losing the only things he had ever believed in his life: **_faith_** and **_trust_**.

**_. . ._**

"What do you mean you _can't find him_?!"

Stan was a nervous wreck, literally. His nephew was missing, and he hadn't noticed it until it was already midnight. He thought the boy would come back; after all, he started acting like he was actually _talking _to someone, when the truth was that there was no one there. Then, he walked out of the shack so naturally that it was hard for Stan to believe it. The older Pines thought he would come back, that he just needed some air and time alone, but he _didn't_. And it was already 8 am. He was talking to the cops in front of the Mystery Shack. Mabel was next to him.

Mabel.

Poor girl, she was trembling and sobbing in despair. Her brother could've been gone and, with the news that the younger twin was nowhere to be seen, Mabel was even more desolated. The last thing they had done was argue with each other (in a peaceful way, of course), and then Dipper Pines – her twin brother – was gone. Stan wanted to comfort Mabel, tell her everything was fine and that they would find Dipper, but he didn't know what to say. Tears slid down Mabel's cheeks as she kept sobbing, her words barely audible between sobs. "I… Can't… Lose… Him… Because… The… Last… Thing… We… Did… Was… Fight…" And she kept sobbing, this time louder.

"Mabel, sweetie, everything's okay…" Stan started, not knowing what to say then. "… We'll find him, and I'm sure he's fine." Stan didn't know who he was trying to convince: Mabel or himself; maybe both or maybe not. He would never know. The cops near him didn't even seem to care about the fact that there was an under-aged missing boy around there, and that it was their responsibility as cops to find him. It was their _job_.

"Listen, sir, we've-"

"No! _You _listen to me!" Stan interrupted, not wanting the first cop to complete the sentence. He was **tired **of excuses. "My nephew is somewhere around here! He couldn't have simply disappeared out of the country, or out of this planet! He is somewhere around here, and you better find him or…" Stan stopped upon noticing one pair of eyes watching him from the forest near the shack. The creature had the shape of a human; a preteen human. When it stepped out of the forest, Stan's eyes widened. Mabel followed her great uncle's gaze until it stopped on the boy who had stepped out of the forest.

"DIPPER!" The brunette screamed at the top of her lungs and ran as fast as her legs allowed her to. When she was near enough, Mabel lunged to her twin brother and jumped on him. Dipper yelped at the surprise tackle and both fell to the ground. "Dipper, I thought you were gone…" Mabel started sobbing again, as she remembered the despair she had felt when her twin was gone, but this time her tears were from happiness that her twin was there, alive and whole.

"Y-yeah, don't worry, I'm here." He hugged Mabel closely, glad that it was all over. But not everything was over yet. "I'm sorry that I worried you, Mabel. I shouldn't have left the shack…" Dipper looked downcast. The reason why he had left the Mystery Shack in the first place was Ariadne, but what if she was invisible to them? What would he tell them? Dipper knew his problems weren't over when he saw Stan walking over to them. And he didn't look happy at all. "…" Dipper opened his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. He had run out of excuses.

"_Where _were you?" Stan's voice was clear and he wanted answers. Dipper bit his lower lip and lowered his head once more. Mabel sat next to him, watching her brother's eyes carefully. She did not raise her head to look at her great uncle; she kept staring at Dipper, also waiting for an explanation. Of course, Dipper did not answer. "Kid, I want an explanation! I called the cops, for Pete's sake!" Dipper didn't look up. Mabel finally pried her eyes off Dipper to look at Stan. "Fine, don't answer if you don't want to. But I want you to know you're grounded." Dipper slowly nodded.

_How did I get myself in this mess…?_

**_. . ._**

Dipper closed his eyes as he lied on his bed, face-first onto the pillow. His whole body hurt; especially his back and lungs. He wanted answers, which made him wonder where Bill was. When he was at the exit of the forest, the dream-demon had disappeared without a trace, leaving him alone without explaining anything. During the small _trip _they had through the forest – with Bill still on his human form – the two didn't say a word. Dipper would just watch Bill at the corner of his eye, also watching the bright-white wings that were coming from his back. Dipper was so impressed by these wings – which were _way _bigger than his – that he didn't pay attention to his own road; making him always trip and fall; however, Bill always held him, preventing the boy from falling to the floor.

_Like a guardian angel… Or like a father…_

What really impressed him were those wings. Their purely white coloration and their length were really astounding. Dipper was hypnotized by how they looked. His wings had two colorations: black for the left, white for the right. But he had never actually seen Bill's wings – or, as Ariadne called, _Sanctus Alaes_/Holy Wings. He had imagined a demon's wings as black, or something similar – or did all demons have different wing colorations? Heck, Dipper didn't know, but wish he did. Bill's wings were gigantic compared to his, and they looked a lot heavier too. However, they seemed to have less feathers than Dipper's, which lead the preteen to ask why his wings were so different.

Was it because he was a half-demon? Dipper growled in frustration as he adjusted himself on the bed, now facing the ceiling. _Why do things have to be so difficult even when I'm on vacation? _The blunette mused. He grabbed the pillow and pressed it against his face. Then he looked at the clock at the bedside: 9:34 am. Dipper groaned in boredom. Dipper wish he hadn't followed and trusted Ariadne, because then he wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. Now all he was wearing was his orange shirt, his grey shorts and the socks; hat in one hand, journal #3 in the other. Bored, Dipper decided to open the journal and use the black light that Mabel had lent him.

After all, he hadn't finished reading what was written in invisible ink.

He put the black light aside as he started to flip through the pages, trying to find where he had stopped, when one page fell off the journal. Dipper raised an eyebrow as he put the open journal near his pillow and grabbed the page from the floor. It was completely white, dirty and smashed. Dipper sat on the edge of the bed, grabbed the black light and used it to illuminate the paper. And then he saw the blurry words, written in invisible ink, written in the smashed page:

**_Creature number #667_**:

**_Corbos – Bird-looking reapers that take away the vital energy of living creatures. Extremely dangerous; may look like crows, and exceptions are ravens. Never approach them. They are known for attracting little children to isolated places, and usually receive orders from lost souls._**

**_If one is found, run away, and don't look back. Do not stare it in the eye.  
Weaknesses: ?_**

Dipper let the page fall to the floor, with wide eyes.

_Corbos_. This is how these filthy creatures were called. Dipper groaned as he sat back on his bed, turning off the black light. Of course they were supernatural, how couldn't he see this? However, three questions popped out of nowhere: why did the author use invisible ink to write this? Was it some kind of private information? And why had this page been ripped off? Dipper just wanted answers, and fast. Suddenly, upon realizing that the page said the Corbos received orders from 'lost souls', his eyes widened.

_"**fEeD.**"  
"… And then discover she is a lost soul."_

Dipper closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles as he lied on his bed one more time, his right hand on the third journal. The blunette remembered the page saying that they could look like ravens or crows. Yes, the ones he saw looked like crows, but within a mix of black and white. Also, their weaknesses were unknown; did the author find one Corbo in his life? Had he been attacked by one? Had he captured one and analyzed it? Why would he have ripped off the page with invisible ink? The blunette sighed. Dipper wish he wasn't grounded. _Why can't life be easy for once? What are they hiding?_

With that last thought, he fell asleep.

**_. . ._**

_Hot…  
It was so hot in there, almost like hell itself…  
What was that smell? It smelled like smoke and burning wood…_

_Dipper opened his eyes in a heart's beat as he stood in a sitting position. His vision was blurry, though slowly adapting to his surroundings. The air had a sickening scent of smoke and metal. No, not metal… It smelled like blood. Fresh blood, nonetheless. Dipper focused on where he was, first. A forest, which was being consumed with fire; half of the trees had been burnt to ashes, which explained the smell of burning wood. Dipper's vision was getting foggy, his lungs were aching with the smoke in the air and there were tears at the corner of his eyes due to a burning sensation in his eyes as well._

_And, finally, Dipper looked around. There was blood on the floor, trees and everywhere around him. The preteen's eyes widened upon noticing this. Near his feet, there was a single black feather which was partially covered in blood. Dipper slowly stood up, a little dizzy, as he grabbed the black feather from the floor and analyzed it closely. He thought about putting it in his vest pocket, but gave up on the idea and simply held onto the feather. Where was he? It looked like Gravity Falls' nearby forest, but it wasn't. It could've been deeper into the forest… But why was it burning? Where did the blood come from? _

_He heard the sound of something between flaming bushes. Without hesitating, Dipper let the feather fall to the floor as he ran away as fast as he could. He couldn't see, due to the massive smoke and dust. Because of that, he tripped. Dipper groaned as his body collided with the ground, just to notice he had fallen on a puddle of blood. Yelping, Dipper sat up and looked at the fresh blood under and all over him. And then he looked behind. He obviously hadn't tripped on something; he had tripped on _somebody_. _

_He had tripped on a corpse._

_All color was immediately drained from Dipper's face as he stared at the corpse in horror. It was a woman, a young one. She had long, gray hair that was messy, and her eyes were wide open – as if she was still alive at least. Her pupils were gray as well, but in a darker tone. Her mouth, which was hung open, had blood dripping from it. Her limbs were bleeding. One drop of blood slid down her eye, as if she was crying. That woman was definitely dead. Dipper, not having enough strength to stand up and run anymore, simply crawled away from the corpse. Something was definitely wrong there. He was tired from running, his lungs were being cooked inside his body and ticking, his vision was getting foggy and tired… _

_And then he bumped on something again.  
Dipper turned back, and saw another corpse._

_It was in the same condition as the woman from before, but he had his throat open, revealing bones, muscles and everything else. Dipper's hand flew to his mouth, trying to prevent the bile rising in his throat. That was so sick, everything was so sick. Finally, some of the smoke faded, allowing the preteen to have a full view of his surroundings. And what Dipper saw made him wish the smoke was still around: there were corpses **everywhere**. There were heads hanging in the trees without a body; there were bodies with missing limbs; there were limbs without bodies. Dipper closed his eyes to prevent himself from seeing anything else; he was already feeling nauseous._

_"**aLrEadY gIv InG Up ArE wE?**"_

_Dipper opened his eyes in a flash and looked around, not caring about the bodies anymore, or the sickening blood smell invading his nostrils. He was trying to find the owner of this voice, though he knew very well who it was. "**aH, SeEmS lIkE I aM iNtEr RuPtInG SoMeThInG.**" Dipper wanted to reply, but all that came out was a weak cough. The smoke had already infested the boy's lungs. It felt like they were burning and rotting inside of his body. Trying his best to not lose his cool, – just as he was about to do – Dipper inhaled a certain amount of air (it was now safe to do so) and asked meekly:_

_"What happened to them?" His voice was hoarse, but loud enough – or at least Dipper thought so. Finally he heard a snicker coming from within the forest, and turned his head to that direction. One pair of golden eyes was watching him intently. Finally, the creature lurking in the shadows grinned – and Dipper had never seen such pointy, shiny and sharp teeth before. It sent shivers down his spine._

_"**tHeY aRe AlL dEaD, bOy.**" As he heard the answer, Dipper gulped. He wanted to ask one more question that would help him understand things. But he was too scared to let it out. Every time he opened his mouth, nothing came. And that happened for at least one minute until Dipper gathered enough courage to ask it once for all, settling things for him:_

_"Y-you did this?" His voice came louder, but shaky. He was scared, hopeless. Dipper didn't know if that was a nightmare or the harsh reality, but he really wanted to believe it was a nightmare. And Dipper hoped he could make it out alive, at least._

_"**…** **yOu MeAn KiLl tHeM? oH, I dIdN't kIlL ThEsE fILThY cReAtUrEs.**" The creature finally answered, after a long time of silence between them. Its grin widened before the next phrase came: _

_"_**_ỳO̸͢u̸̶ ̧̧͟D̷̸̕i͟͏̵D̵̷̷̷_****_."_**

* * *

**A/N: What is that?! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's an update! HECK!**

**I took too long because of school and writer's block, but during portuguese classes I started writing something and that ended up being my plot for this episode. Talking about episodes, WE ARE ON EPISODE 20! Oh my gosh, guys, I'm _so _happy! And I've reached 15.300 views, 84 followers and 59 favorites! That'll be the first happiest day of my life XD when I make it to chapter 40 and then to 50 it'll be the second and third happiest days of my life too! And when I become rich it'll be the fourth. I think you all get it, don't you?**

**Big things are coming, guys, big things are coming. That's a hellish big chapter and it took me a few days to make and rewrite it, due to errors and stuff. Luckily I have word, which isn't the best help of the world but... *shrugs* And now let's start with the questions:**

**(1) Who's that guy? And what did he mean by 'you did'?  
(2) Reaction? (both yours and futurely Dipper's)  
(3) What would you do if you were in Dipper's place? (I'd just pray and scream for heck)**

**I think this is all for now, guys! Next chapter we'll see how Danna, Daniel and Asaph are going with the puzzles, the secret wall and stuff. Lots of humor and stuff for you who likes humor/comedy/horror/tragedy (the tragedy is seeing Danna with them, tbh, and that's the horror too).**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	21. Episode 21

**Episode 21: The first step.****  
Arc: "Awakening"  
Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**. . .**

"… Ok, so now what?"

The three were staring at the secret passageway like it was some kind of haunted house, mainly because it was plainly dark inside there, and Daniel swore he had heard cries and screams coming from there. At first, it didn't sound scary at all, just a bit weird – who would find normal a secret wall coming from under the floor? However, everything started to get terrifying when the door actually opened. Danna was fairly amused, to be honest, and Asaph was eager to go inside. It's like he could throw himself inside the passageway without any hesitation. But, for Daniel, he was scared to hell. Especially because the stairs that leaded downstairs looked scary.

"We enter, Einstein." Danna answered, smirking. Daniel's eyes widened; it was pretty obvious for both that he _did **not **_want to enter there, especially because he hated dark places. So, when his sister said that, he took a step back and shot her a skeptical glare. Maybe she was doing this just for the pleasure of seeing him scared out of his mind. Daniel knew his sister, and knew how she was like. He really loved Danna, because she was his sister, but sometimes he really wanted to rip her head off due to the headache she caused him.

"Heck, I'm not entering there." The male twin answered, narrowing his eyes. "Don't you guys watch horror movies?! It's obvious something's going to happen inside there! And I don't want to be there to experience this." Asaph sighed and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Dan, look, we haven't reached this far for nothing. We've decoded a few messages for now, why would you want to give up? The summer is just starting, and we've seen lots of things, experienced lots of things. Being a demon's apprentice is just the beginning; look at all the things we can decode and see by entering there. Yes, there are risks, but look at all the positive things!" The black-haired boy was trying his best to convince Daniel to enter – the boy was really good at noticing things too, and his best quality was the agility, because Daniel was impressively fast at moving, and could easily dodge any attacks. He did karate, hence the speed. "Of course, if you don't want to go, we won't force you."

"Actually, yes, we will, so move on." And Danna pushed him down the stairs. As Daniel fell to the floor, without any injury (miraculously) – but with a serious back pain – he immediately growled and controlled himself. _Don't punch Danna; don't punch Danna_, the red-head said mentally as he kept his eyes closed. He did not want to see his surroundings, and start a fight with his sister would make everything worse. With the sound of footsteps coming from next to him, Daniel didn't know if he should relax or tense up; he had his eyes closed so it was hard for him to know if that was their friends or some monster.

"Seriously, bro, just man up, there's nothing here." That was obviously Danna. Daniel sighed and opened his eyes, facing two silhouettes in front of him. He was really mad at his twin, but couldn't do anything right now. Asaph was looking the other direction, probably analyzing the place and letting them alone for now. Daniel slowly stood up, checking if there was some kind of roof in there, and narrowed his eyes at Danna (though she could not see it clearly).

"Danna, you do _know _I am afraid of dark places!" He started.

"Well, you're not afraid of the mindscape." Danna retorted, smirking. Well, that was a point, as the mindscape was a pitch-black covered place, though that didn't matter right now. Daniel tried to think of something to retort, but his mind was literally blank. So all he did was cross his arms as his twin's smirk became visible. "See? I have a point." Daniel shook his head; there was no way he would let Danna win this argument, especially because _he _had always won, not her.

"I-it's different, okay? We can summon things in the mindscape and- Wait a second, we can summon things!" Daniel remembered, with wide eyes. Of course! His sister had summoned a baseball bat to hit him with, so he could probably summon a flashlight or something. Meanwhile, Danna frowned. What did summoning have to do with this? Oh, of course. "Danna, can you summon a flashlight?"

"Why do I have to do it?" Danna asked; her voice had a cool tone, though. "Can't you do it yourself? I'm kind of lazy now." Daniel rolled his eyes; why did he already _expect _that kind of answer from Danna? The red-head rubbed the back of his head and inhaled deeply, feeling the smell of dust and old books coming from wherever they were, whilst trying to think of something he could tell his sister. He didn't want to make her feel superior, but also didn't want to lie. Maybe telling the truth is better.

"Because… you-do-it-better-than-me." He murmured quickly. But, by Danna's smirk, she had heard it clearly.

"That's what I wanted to hear." The red-head female twin closed her eyes and snapped her fingers. In a blink, a flashlight appeared in her hands. "Here, big baby." Daniel snatched the flashlights from her hands, murmuring a 'thank you, moron', and turned it on. The lights illuminated the room long enough for them to see what was around. There were a few skeletons around the floor, which sent shivers down Daniel's spine and made Danna snicker at him. But, when they looked up, Danna paled. There were lots of spider webs and spiders there. She shrieked. "KYAH, _SPIDERS_!" She shouted.

"Hah, who's the big baby now?" Daniel smirked. He wasn't afraid of spiders at all, but Danna had _Arachnophobia_, which meant she feared spiders for her life. Quite ironic for a demon and a fox mixed into one person. Daniel remembered the times he used to trick Danna with fake spiders on her bed and such; well, that was a payback for almost killing him when she pretended to be "death" itself and turned off the lights. And both ended up grounded. Well, back to the story, Danna was awakened from her trance with Asaph's voice.

"Guys, look at this!" The twins joined Asaph as Daniel used the flashlight in hands to illuminate the room better. In front of them, there was a gigantic double door. "Help me out." Asaph commanded as they started to push the double door, which was really heavy. When the door finally opened, they had reached another room. This one was illuminated by torches attached to the wall, which meant a flashlight wasn't needed anymore. And then Daniel turned it off, putting it on his jacket's pocket (it wasn't a big flashlight, so it fit there). In the middle of the room, there were tiles.

Each tile had a different symbol, which was a very confusing thing. The horizontal row had seven tiles as the vertical row had twelve tiles. The trio approached the tiles but kept a fair distance from them as well. But, suddenly, the door behind them closed itself, making the fire coming from the torches to flick frenetically; almost daring to extinguish themselves. Daniel was praying for that to never happen; he hated the dark almost as much as wars, death and vegetables.

"Okay, let's go." Danna said as she started walking toward the stiles.

"Danna, wait!" Asaph shouted, but the red-head didn't seem to listen. She stepped on the fourth tile from the first row. But, as she did that, putting all her weight on this tile, it collapsed under her feet, making her fall. And she was about to fall on the hole caused by the tile, somebody grabbed her hand. And this 'somebody' was Asaph. Daniel also helped him, and then the three of them were on the floor, far away from the tiles, breathing hard in shock. "I told you to wait! How deaf are you?!" The black-haired boy scolded, narrowing his eyes. Danna rolled her eyes as they faced what was under the tiles: a dungeon full of snakes; poisonous ones.

"_Waiting_, _waiting_, those are just simple words." She said. "Besides, I don't have patience."

"Well, your lack of patience almost killed you." Her twin warned through gritted teeth as he stood up. Danna would be his end, without a doubt. "Asaph, you're the brains, so what do we do now?" The raven-haired boy stood up and walked to the tiles, with his feet just a few millimeters from them. He analyzed all the symbols carefully, so he wouldn't miss anything. Each symbol was weirder than the previous one, and there were lots of them: Christian symbols, ancient symbols, Nordic symbols… But there were a few symbols he couldn't recognize. Wait… Were these symbols…?

"I think I get it." Asaph said; his face was completely stoic and lacking emotions, as this was a crucial moment. "Danna, come here."

"Wait, why me?!"

"You already know that answer." Asaph rolled his eyes as Danna sighed and stood near him. He turned to Daniel. "Pass me the flashlight, please." Daniel tossed Asaph the flashlight, watching everything from a safe distance, near enough for him to see what was happening. "Danna, you shall step on the tiles I illuminate with this flashlight; it's the simplest thing you can do. Trust me on this one." Danna nodded, sighing. She was _now _a little scared. _And there it is, the fear of death, again. Maybe that's a new weakness? _Daniel thought, watching his sister carefully.

Asaph pointed the flashlight to the third tile of the first row. The symbol drawn in it was a full moon. "_Selene_, the Greek goddess of the moon" Danna closed her eyes and took the first step. Impressively, the tile didn't collapse like the previous one. Asaph pointed the flashlight to the next row. "_Hecate_, goddess of magic" He said again. The tile had the drawing of a wand with sparkles. Danna took a leap of faith before stepping on this one. It didn't collapse either. The next one had a glass with some liquid inside. "_Oeno_, goddess of wine" This time Danna was more confident of herself. She stepped on the tile, and it did not collapse. The next tile had a magnifying glass. "_Oizys_, goddess of mystery"

"Whoa" Daniel murmured, with wide eyes and a smile. "Asaph's really Greek-wise, huh…" It was more of a statement than a question.

"_Thalia_, goddess of festivity" Asaph said as he pointed the flashlight to a tile with a balloon. Danna jumped on it; she decided to trust Asaph with this. _Don't disappoint me, Aph; if I die, I'll kill you_, she thought.. "_Iaso_, goddess of healing" The black-haired boy pointed to the tile with a bandage. Danna stepped on this one. "_Nesoi_, goddess of islands" He pointed the flashlight's light to a tile with an island. Danna jumped on this one carefully. "_Gaia_, creator of the universe" He pointed the flashlight to the tile with the planet Earth on it.

"Do you have to keep saying the names of the goddesses?" Danna asked in an annoyed tone. "It's getting annoying."

"Yes, maybe you can learn something with this." Asaph answered. "_Selene_, goddess of the moon – again" He didn't need to point the flashlight to the next symbol. Danna stepped on the tile with the moon drawing naturally. "_Thalia_" He said simply. Danna stepped on the tile with a balloon. _Whoa! I'm learning something? Gosh, I never thought this would happen_, the red-head thought. "_Arachne_, goddess of spiders" But Danna didn't move from her spot. "Danna, step on the tile." Asaph said, pointing to the tile with a spider with the flashlight.

When he received no answer, he just turned to face Daniel, expecting him to answer. After all, Danna was his twin: he ought to know something about her.

"She's afraid of spiders." He whispered.

"Oh." Asaph turned to Danna, who was frozen in place. "Danna, close your eyes and step on the tile. Come on, we need to keep moving!" But Danna didn't move; though she looked like she had her eyes closed, so at least half of his order was fullfilled.

"No, I refuse to move!" She declared, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Are you scared?" Asaph taunted.

"It's not like I'm scared or something! I'm just… rebelling! You know, 'cause I'm a rebel teenager! I sleep one minute after my bedtime 'cause I'm a rebel!" And so she stayed this way.

Then he had an idea. "Well, if you don't move then you'll get caught by that spider next to you." Danna opened her eyes in a flash and jumped on the next tile, barely losing her balance and falling on another tile. Fortunately, the first tile she jumped on was the right one. "Good, last one!" Asaph announced. Danna nodded; _let's end this shit_, she thought. "_Rhode_, sea nymph" He pointed his flashlight to a tile with a wave drawing.

Danna finally stepped on this one, eager to finish this, and when she stepped out of the last tile, accidentally losing her balance and hitting a golden button on the wall, just as the the whole room started to tremble. _Did I just cause an earthquake again? _Danna thought. The tiles started to move to the sides of the walls, entering inside them, and then were replaced with normal tiles that formed a floor.

"Whoa" The three murmured, astonished. Then, Danna looked at Asaph.

"Hey, Asaph, can you tell me the order of the goddesses again?"

"Sure." Asaph said as he and Daniel started crossing the room. "They are Selene, Hecate, Oeno, Oizys, Thalia, Iaso, Nesoi, Gaia, Selene, Thalia, Arachne and Rhode. Why do you ask?" Danna closed her eyes, focusing on the names. She started murmuring out loud a few things – Daniel and Asaph exchanged glances as they wondered what on the world she was doing.

"Danna?" Asaph asked, raising an eyebrow. What was she doing? She rarely thought or wondered about something at all; she barely put effort into anything she did. Danna finally opened her eyes and nodded at them.

"Did you guys notice this sequel forms the words: _shooting star_?"

* * *

**A/N: No, dear readers, I am _not _dead yet! I present you one more chapter!**

**Well, I was wondering: oh, what did I smoke to make these characters? And then I noticed that I like them, and they've kinda become canon in my mind (kinda). So, yeah. Anyway, this title is, like, a joke since Danna is stepping on the tiles, and when she took the first step she fell. Got it, got it? Okay, maybe I'm not good at that :( Well, since I have nothing else to say to this, let's GO:**

**(1) Which of my three OCs (Danna, Daniel and Asaph) you like the most? (don't need to answer if you don't want X3)  
(2) Shooting Star? What does this means?  
(3) Could you imagine Danna being afraid of spiders?**

**Well, that's all! See you, my friends!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	22. Episode 22

**Episode 22: Illusion is a reality.  
****Arc: "Awakening"  
Opening: Butterfly Core – Valshe.**

**_. . ._**

**_. . ._**

_"**Liar**"_

_Dipper took a step back when the creature stepped forward. His heels were now touching the woman's body, and from his toes to knees he was covered in blood, the sickening smell making him want to throw up. The creature produced a sound that should have been a snicker, or at least it sounded like it. Dipper felt his chest tighten and the lack of air was affecting his lungs. He wanted to breathe but something was preventing him from doing so. After what sounded like an eternity, the creature finally started talking again, much to Dipper's horror._

_"**mAyBe**" The creature took another step forward. Dipper took another step back, tripping on the body behind him and falling on the floor hard, blood splashing all around. A sound of disgust and fear died in Dipper's throat. "**dO noT uNdErEsTiMaTE mE, lItTlE bRoThEr.**" Dipper's eyes widened upon hearing the last two words. With rage building, he stood up – ignoring his body's protests – and narrowed his golden eyes at the creature._

_"I am not your little brother! I don't know who you are, but stop calling me that! I didn't kill anyone! Liar, you're lying, stop lying to me!" At this point, he didn't know who he was trying to convince. Dipper was scared, and his heart was racing – the pressure on his chest wasn't even helping. Also, the creature's voice tone scared him – he had heard this voice tone before; in his dreams of when he was younger. The thing took another step forward, completely out of the shadows within the trees. However, the only thing he turned out to be was a shadow. The creature extended his hand, and Dipper's birthmark started glowing._

_"**aRe YoU sUrE…?**" Dipper blinked and took two steps back, paling completely. He opened his mouth to say something, but the statement died in his throat – as well as his courage. Dipper's hand went to touch his forehead, which felt cool. For how long had he been feeling this sensation? This feeling that was connected to somebody? This feeling that there was somebody else inside of his mind? This feeling that he was being controlled like a puppet… These feelings were consuming him from inside out every day. "**… lItTlE bRoThEr?**"_

_"No... I am not your brother. I am not your brother… I AM NOT YOUR BROTHER!" Dipper repeated before spinning on his heels and running away as fast as he could. Not even paying attention to what was forward, Dipper tried to control his mind. He was sprinting at full speed when strange things started to happen. His heart was racing, his lungs were burning and his eyesight was getting blurry, when everything started to change._

"Hey, wait up-"  
"-I don't know who I can trust anymore-"

_Dipper's eyes widened as he started to feel dizzy._

**_WHIP! "Unsightly"_**

_Dipper stopped and leaned against a tree, but fell to the floor right after. His breaths were short and he was wheezing. His lungs felt like they were on fire._

"-Yeah, you should keep up-"  
"-YOU RUINED MY LIFE-"

**_BANG! "Repulsive"_**

_Dipper gasped for air._

"-I… I can keep up-"  
"-YOU RUINED YOUR OWN LIFE-"

**_BANG! "Disgusting"_**

_Everything was spinning around him, and his vision was fading to black._

"-When Gravity Falls and Earth becomes sky-"  
"-I FIGHT FOR-"

**_WHIP! "Run away and never return"_**

_Dipper was losing consciousness. _

"-Fear the beast with just one eye-"  
"-FREEDOM-"

**_SLASH! "It's been so long, little brother"_**

_Everything went black._

**_. . ._**

_It was raining…  
Everything was blurry…  
He could hear thunders from far away…_

_…_

_Dipper opened his eyes, analyzing everything around him before jumping to conclusions. The rain was hitting his dark blue hair as Dipper could feel the mud under him. He was on an open field; it looked like the same field he had been when he was attacked by the horde of corbos. Dipper winced upon remembering about the corbos, the creatures that had almost taken his life away – somehow. And his chest tightened more, this time upon remembering about Ariadne._

_But, not far away, Dipper could notice a silhouette of a person. And this person was starting to walk towards him. Dipper couldn't help but step back, until he bumped on something. Looking back, Dipper prevented a shriek of surprise from escaping his lips upon noticing he had bumped on a corpse – it was the girl from his dream, the one that had called him 'Pine Tree'. But who was she? Remembering the strange silhouette, Dipper turned to face the person now in front of him, and his eyes widened._

_"…Mabel?"_

_The girl narrowed her eyes. Dipper could now see better, and analyzed his twin closely. Mabel was wearing her usual shooting star sweater, but it was scratched and covered in… dried blood. Her chocolate brown hair was also covered with blood and messy. In her left hand, there was a bloody kitchen knife. Dipper's eyes widened upon noticing the knife in his sister's hand, and her stoic face. But his chest tightened even more when he saw a sly smile cross her face, full of scars and small cuts._

_"Why, why, _Pine Tree_. What brings you here?" Her voice was dry and harsh. Dipper had **never **heard Mabel talk like this; she talks in a harsh manner sometimes, but never with this voice tone. It was so cold, so careless, so… unlike Mabel. Dipper didn't say anything. He wanted to study Mabel more; he wanted a sign that this was a dream. This had to be a dream! "What's wrong? _Cipher _got your tongue?" Dipper gaped at her. She had found out. Would this explain why she was covered in dry blood?_

_"I… Mabel, you- What happened?"_

_"Oh, so now you don't know? How innocent you are! Let me resume everything to you: you lied to me, made a deal with Bill and now you have abandoned me!" Mabel yelled as she threw the knife to the floor. "Look around you." Dipper looked around. He wasn't at an open field. He was at a **graveyard**. And, even with all the headstones, there were bodies all around. "Do you know who did this?" She narrowed her eyes, kicking the knife, which almost hit Dipper. It landed on a tombstone that said 'Stanford Pines'. "You did!"_

_Dipper's eyes widened._

_"T-this… No, that's not true!" He shouted. "Tell me this is a dream, please…" Dipper murmured, trying not to faint again – which was almost inevitable. Mabel did not answer him. "H-how do you know? How did you find out about my deal with Bill?" Mabel did not answer this question either. "I don't understand… I would never let this happen! I would never abandon you, Mabel. We are-"_

_"_We_?" She snickered before kicking Dipper in the chest, making him fall to the floor painfully. This could even be a dream, but it felt **real **to him. "Do you really think there's still a 'we'? You don't understand, do you?" She sneered and then scowled, with her foot still pressed against his chest, covering his orange T-shirt in mud. Dipper didn't even care, he just wanted to know what was going on. "_We _are what? Twins? Best friends? Life partners? I don't know anymore; come to think about it, did I ever know the answer before all of this happened?" Dipper frowned._

_"Mabel, why are you acting like this? You were never like this."_

_"Right" She nodded. "But now I am a new person, with a new vision of the cruel world and betrayal." She sighed, withdrew her foot from Dipper's chest and started to walk away. Dipper stood up to stop her, but she turned to him with a murderous look. "It is over, Dipper. _You are no longer my brother_."_

**_. . ._**

_Dipper was back in the open field with all the bodies surrounding him, and the creature staring at him intently. He had run away, but now he was back. That wasn't possible, was it? The more he would see the more confused Dipper would become. And nobody wanted to give him answers. Dipper finally had his final question for the creature:_

_"Who are you?"_

_"I am **you**."_

**_. . ._**

Dipper's eyes widened as he struggled and gasped for air, but all that filled his lungs was water. As he noticed this, the preteen immediately emerged from the water, breathing hard and supporting his weight with his hands. Dipper blinked a few times, trying to make his eyes stop burning, and looked around – his sight was blurry, but slowly adjusting itself. He was inside the bathroom, with the door locked, with his clothes on, and _inside _the filled bathtub. But the creepy thing was that, when Dipper looked down, he noticed a bloody knife at the side of the bathtub.

After noticing blood mixed with the water he was in, Dipper started to search for anything that looked like a cut. Upon looking at his right arm, Dipper noticed it had been cut, and recognized the small cuts as letters: **_A.K. F_._A. AKUMA TENSHI._**

This sent shivers down Dipper's spine.

Without anything else to do, Dipper stood up, stepped out of the bathtub (emptying it, as he didn't want anyone to see the blood) and grabbed the towel from the hook near the sink. Dipper tried to dry himself as quickly as he could before unlocking and opening the door, checking if there was no one in sight, and (silently) running upstairs, opening the attic's door and closing it. After doing this, Dipper sighed and slid down to the floor, completely exhausted.

He had done nothing for a while, but the headache, the pain in his lungs, his heavy breathing and his eyes burning, all combined together, were enough to make Dipper feel like he had ran around the world in seconds. And there he was, sitting against the attic's door, with his legs pressed against his chest, trying not to faint. After staying in this position for a few seconds, Dipper decided to stand up and go to his bed. If he was really going to faint, he would do it in his bed.

But, after lying down, Dipper remembered about his nightmare and immediately shot upright, shock hitting him hard. He hadn't been having enough oxygen to realize everything that was happening now, but now he could see it: he had a nightmare with a mysterious creature; there were multiple cuts in his arm that formed a name; he had awoken inside a bathtub, drowning. What the hell had happened?

_"I am you"  
"You did"_

Dipper groaned, closing his eyes and grabbing and pressing the pillow against his face. Upon doing that, he noticed that the book 3 was there, as well as his vest. Dipper yawned and tried to fight against the exhaustion; he didn't want to go to that place again, to see _that _creature, and to see _that _Mabel. Dipper's eyes widened as he remembered Mabel's attitude towards him in his dream. That made the 12-year-old want to stay awake as much as possible, wondering where his sister was, but it was impossible to fight back.

Dipper fell asleep.

**_. . ._**

Meanwhile, a certain girl with bright purple eyes and white hair was watching everything with her eyes wide. In front of her, there was a screen showing the images of Dipper who was asleep. Her mouth was hung open as she snapped her fingers, making the screen disappear in a purple dust. She sighed, sitting on the floor, as one white deer with purple eyes sat down next to her. In the deer's neck, there was the big dipper marking. The girl caressed the deer's back as she sighed, with watery eyes.

"I wanted to prevent this, Yuki." She lowered her head and withdrew her hand, wiping away one tear. "_He_ has awakened."

* * *

**A/N: Argh, who made this shitty chapter? Oh, wait.**

**So, I was at school totally dozing off and then I thought: "hey, why don't I confuse my readers by adding random scenes with fucked up scenary and OOC characters?" And then I did that. Also, would it be weird if I made this emotional chapter listening to Golden Boy (Nadav Guedj)? So, I was searching for some Israeli songs for my Middle East seminar and then I found this song. Now I'm totally addicted; I may use this song. So, what did you think of this chapter? Confusing? Hellishly confusing? Goddamning confusing? Your choice :) Well, now let's begin the questions. I'll be asking some personal things too, so...**

**(1) ****_A.K. F_._A. AKUMA TENSHI. _\- What does this mean?  
(2) Who is 'he'? (so obvious)  
(3) Why does 'the creature' keep calling Dipper 'little brother'?  
(4) Who is that girl? And this deer (she's obviously Yuki)? Why does the deer have a big dipper marking? (so many questions)  
(5) Now, a more personal question to help you relax, what would Bill's nickname for you be? (mine's HEADPHONES)  
(6) What do you fight for?**

**Many questions XD And this is the end of the AWAKENING ARC! Next arc: FALLEN ROYALTY. So I kinda miscalculated a few things and this fanfic may have MORE than 50 chapters? Is that too long? I hope not. Big things are coming, guys! Big things are coming.**

**Did anyone get the Kuroshitsuji reference? "Unsightly, repulsive, disgusting"? Review if you do; you can find the clip for this on youtube, searching for 'Sebastian's True Form'. There's also a Lion King reference, as well as the reference for Episode 15 XD Because I like references, they make me feel smart.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	23. Episode 23

**Episode 23: We find Aragog.  
Arc: "Fallen Royalty"  
Opening: Another – Opening.**

**_. . ._**

**_. . ._**

"_Shooting Star_, eh?" Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow, as Asaph temporarily turned off the flashlight. This mission was starting to get interesting, even if he still didn't want to be there. "Sounds like a coincidence, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly." Asaph and Danna nodded. _Well, seems legit, _Danna thinks as she started straightening her hair that got messy with the 'earthquake' inside the passageway. "Asaph, do you see another door?" The mentioned friend shrugged and tried to search for anything that looked like a button.

However, as Asaph stepped forward to search further, he may have stepped on something that looked like a hidden button which had the same colors as the floor. As the room started to shake lightly – not as violently as before –, a door to their right opened, and it led to another dark hall. Asaph gripped the flashlight tightly and nodded at his comrades. Yes, they had to go there again.

Daniel gave a shaky sigh upon realizing he would have to go to the darkness again. The younger twin hated darkness, and everything that made him unable to see his surroundings.

As the three stepped inside the hall at the same time, the 'door' that led to the previous room closed itself, engulfing the apprentices into a total darkness. Asaph turned on the flashlight again, though it didn't help much. Clinging to each other, the three of them started walking further through the halls, so they wouldn't be attacked by a monster or something. Danna could've summoned more flashlights, but the sounds were making her lose concentration; and this usually led to disaster.

"This looks like a horror movie." Danna commented before the hall fell silent again. "Like _Silent Hill_ or _Five Nights At Freddy's_." She said again. Daniel shuddered; he hated these types of games and movies, especially because they scared him.

"Yeah" Asaph said, not taking his eyes off the hall's walls, making sure that there wasn't a monster on the roof that would attack them at any minute. To make things a little better, Danna started humming a happy song quietly; Daniel and Asaph recognized this song as Within Temptation's "Angels", the song Danna had been listening to for a while. Danna usually liked her MP3 better than most humans she talked to. "I think I see a light!" Asaph exclaimed as he noticed a large door at the end of the hall, but he was still at full alert mode.

"Thank God…" Daniel murmured; even if he was half demon that didn't mean he couldn't worship God. It wasn't forbidden, it was just… weird. Half-weird. But, again, his mother lured them into this 'Christian' stuff, which just made them believe more that their father was the demon in the house. She wasn't even able to cook something without burning it! _Well, it's not like she doesn't try,_ Daniel thought. And they had reached the end of the hall; they had made it alive, at least for now.

"We're alive?" Danna asked rhetorically. "Woohoo! I'm alive, I'm alive, oh yeah!" Daniel rolled his eyes; that was a really inappropriate time for singing.

"Let's go" Asaph said as the three of them pushed the door, opening it completely.

Upon reaching the room, the door they had just opened closed itself (how contradicting); this was becoming quite common now. It was not **_normal_**, but it was _common_. The room was normal; the most normal room they had seen, for now. The three of them were wondering how many rooms they would have to go through, because this thing, even looking so small since it was literally buried under the ground, looked like it was a small place; that is until they remembered the thing that was written on the first paper they (or Danna) had found:

**_"Three challenges you will face"_**

Of course it had to be… They had already completed one challenge. There were still two on the way; and this would be their next challenge. While Asaph and Daniel were scared out of their wits, Danna was excited. This summer was boring until they had become apprentices, and now they were even solving codes, finding secret passageways and stepping on magic tiles! It was scary at times, but really interesting. That was until Danna noticed something small and hairy walking towards her.

"SPIDER" She shrieked before crushing the small bug with her foot and then smashing it again multiple times. Before stepping on it for, like, ten times, Danna turned around with an innocent smile, panting as the creature lay on the floor, completely dead and immobile. "Just to make sure it was dead." Daniel and Asaph shuddered at her psychotic voice tone. But, then, the ground started trembling for one second. And then another second, and then another. It was like a titan was walking towards them.

But it wasn't a titan.  
Danna wish it had been one, but it wasn't.  
Would've been much easier, because…

It was a giant spider.

**_. . ._**

Danna's blood ran cold.

The spider was big enough to almost touch the roof – it looked like that giant spider - Aragog – from Harry Potter that Hagrid kept, but worse. She paled, stepping backwards and leaning against the cold wall. Her throat was closing, and tears of fear brimmed at the corner of her eyes. Daniel felt a tug at his heart upon seeing his sister – who had almost never cried in her life – so frightened. He had always thought it was just a dumb fear that would go away with time, but it wasn't.

Since she was young, when she had been attacked by a handful of spiders, Danna feared these creatures. Danna even locked herself in her room for two whole days and refused to come out, afraid that the spiders would come to get their revenge. That was kind of a dumb idea, because due to the lack of sleep – with the nightmares filled with spiders –, food and water, Danna had fainted in her own room, and nobody had noticed since the door was locked. With time, the whole Saeryd family started to notice her fear had turned into a phobia.

And this is how everything started.

In what looked like a few seconds, Danna's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed to the floor, completely unconscious. Asaph had run to the other side of the room, trying to distract the spider, and Daniel was now behind it. He turned to face his sister, just to find her lying on the floor, with closed eyes. His eyes widened at the sight and ran to his twin's side, shaking her violently. "Danna, wake up, dammit! Oh, shi- ASAPH, DANNA FAINTED!" He shouted. But he shouldn't have done that.

The spider turned to them, and then roared loudly.  
Daniel didn't know if a spider could roar; now he knew.

But, again, they were three half demons inside a mysterious chamber underground – nothing had to make fucking sense now.

"Are you serious?!" Asaph shouted from the other side of the room. But the spider didn't even bother looking at him. "Daniel, hand me the kitchen knife! It's in Danna's backpack!" He commanded. Daniel opened the backpack in Danna's back and grabbed the sharp, large knife that was inside it. _How the hell did she get that?! _That was the question that hovered inside Daniel's mind, but he shouldn't worry about that now; maybe later, but definitely not now.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Daniel threw the knife across the room (praying it wouldn't hit Asaph in the face) and near the black-haired preteen. But even that did not attract the spider's attention. Asaph slowly tip-toed to the giant spider, trying not to attract its attention; all that while keeping a tight grip on the sharp object in his hands. But, then, seeing that Daniel and Danna had already been cornered, Asaph jumped as high as he could (being a demon, you can guess the height), landing on the spider's back. Taken aback by this, the spider started to struggle, attempting to get the Halfling off its back.

Meanwhile, Asaph was trying to find the right spot to stab, but that wasn't an easy task. That was because he had completely forgotten the point he should hit. _Oh, shit_, he thought while his hands trembled in nervousness and he paled. Daniel noticed this and, taking advantage of the spider's current situation, decided to ask what was going on. "Asaph, why are you taking so long?!" Asaph heard his friend's voice loud and clear, but didn't know _how _to tell this in a good way. And then he started stuttering. "Asaph?" Daniel's voice changed from confused to concerned. Asaph _never _took this long to make decisions, but _almost_ everybody knew he didn't work under pressure.

"I forgot the point!"

"What do you mean?"

"The point where the spider is sensible!"

"Stab it in the brain! Or the ass! It doesn't matter! Just do it!"

"I DON'T WORK UNDER PRESSURE!"

"I KNOW!"

And they decided to end their argument there; this would lead them nowhere, anyway. And then Asaph remembered something: he told Danna to bring a book about supernatural creatures; this spider would surely be there. He turned to Daniel – who was panicking – and shouted: "DANIEL, SEARCH FOR A BOOK! IT'S ABOUT UNNATURAL CREATURES! INSIDE DANNA'S BACKPACK!" All he was praying for was that Danna didn't forget it. Daniel grabbed his twin's backpack in a rush and started searching for the mentioned book while Asaph tried to keep his balance, riding the spider like a wild buffalo. When he was starting to lose hope, Daniel pulled a white, old-looking book from the backpack. Without saying a word, the red-head threw it to Asaph, who caught it just in time.

"Come on, come on…" Both Daniel and Asaph were murmuring – or praying – as Asaph flicked through the pages as quickly as he could, which wasn't an easy task – since he was mounting a spider. "Aha!" Asaph exclaimed, raising his knife in the air and then stabbing the spider right in the head, making sure to keep a tight grip on the knife; the last thing he wanted was for it to slip off his hands. He forced the knife further as the creature started shrieking for its life. Slowly, it stopped moving and eventually collapsed onto the floor. With the sound of something hitting the floor, Danna's eyes started to flutter and she woke up.

"What the he- what am I doing he- oh holy fuck." She started stumbling on her words and paled upon noticing: one dead spider in front of her, a shocked Daniel and a scarred Asaph mounting said spider and holding a knife. "And I thought my dream about a mushroom kingdom with a strawberry princess and several spaghetti guards was weird enough…" Danna murmured while standing up, with her twin's help.

"…" They said nothing as Asaph jumped off the spider's head, holding a knife covered in a green liquid. "Yuck…" He murmured, wiping the liquid on his clothes. But, surprisingly, the liquid evaporated a few seconds later.

"So!" Danna exclaimed, trying to lighten up the mood of her comrades – they didn't look very pleased, after all. "What did I miss?" Daniel shot her a hard glare.

"Nothing, you just passed out while we were fighting a giant spider, thank you." Danna retorted by shooting him the same glare, and the two started having a glaring contest. Asaph sighed as he pushed the twins, each one to one side. He really hated when they argued, but hated even more when their arguments were silent. These green eyes that could definitely kill just by looking at them, filled with hatred, made him want to throw up repeatedly. Not that Asaph wanted them to claw their eyes out – because he also had green eyes – but he really wanted them to stop.

"We can't afford another fight now, guys." He said, before any of them could complain. "Danna, you didn't miss anything; this level was shit. But, right now, we have to stay together." The two of them nodded. Nevertheless, they didn't say anything. As they expected for some kind of door to open, Daniel looked at his twin sister. She was a carefree person, but he knew she had a weakness. And it was about spiders. He knew how afraid she was, but never wanted to admit it. He couldn't believe his sister feared such small creatures.

"Danna" He called. The female twin looked at him, not even expecting an apology or something. "_How _the hell did you get a kitchen knife?" Danna shrugged.

"I have my ninjutsu-y ways" She answered with a smirk.

Everything looked peaceful for now, but just then… hell broke loose.

The spider's corpse started to evaporate until nothing was left, not even the green liquid. Everything seemed to be fine now, until Danna spotted one spider coming out of a hole on the wall. And then two more, three, four… She paled and took a step back, stumbling on Daniel who was gathering the things inside the backpack; he was now putting the book inside of it. When he noticed Danna stepping back and almost smashing his hand, the red-head was going to scold her when he noticed the amount of spiders coming out of a hole on the wall in front of them.

And, of course, this didn't go unnoticed by Asaph. Before the three of them could understand what was going on, the spiders had already filled the room, circling them. They all paled; there was no way to escape now, and they were too much to count. There were spiders on the floor, on the walls and even on the roof.

They were cornered.

**_. . ._**

"Just a thought: can I freak out now?"

Before the answer came, Danna started screaming hysterically. Daniel started cursing under his breath and Asaph just stood there, trying to think of a plan. Of course, nothing would come. They were dead. As the spiders started marching towards them, the trio took a step back, pressed against each other's backs. The backpack was trembling in Daniel's sweaty hands. A spider approached Asaph's foot and tried to climb it. The raven-haired apprentice was absolutely disgusted and took another step back. Just then he noticed he had stepped onto something again.

A button.

Before anything else could happen, the three of them fell and started sliding down on what appeared to be some kind of slide. Before they could blink, the trio landed on the ground rather harshly, and not-so-safely. But, at least, they were free from the spiders. Standing up, trying to stop the world from spinning, the three of them were confused as heck. What had just happened? They didn't even know what reality was anymore. Asaph broke the silence.

"I'm never watching Harry Potter ever again."

"Agreed." Danna and Daniel said in unison. Looking back at the 'slide' they had gone through, Daniel raised an eyebrow analyzing its shape. It was a rather strange thing. "Why does this slide have the shape of a pine tree?"

* * *

**A/N: 'Cause I like Harry Potter...**

**I am back, people! I haven't updated in 9 days, so now I decided to write a chapter about the spider we all love (to hate): Aragog. I haven't watched Harry Potter in a _REALLY_ long time so I kinda spelled it 'Aragorn'. I was without internet so I wasn't able to either check the name of the damned spider or post the story. I have finished it just now, so... And, yes, in case you're wondering, the spider-invasion part is a part of the Treasure Buddies movie; I really like this one because of the adventure. So, WELCOME TO THE _FALLEN ROYALTY _ARC! I really didn't need to shout, did I?**

**Alright, now some questions:**

**(1) What would you have done if you were in their place?  
(2) What do you think the arc 'fallen royalty' is about?  
(3) What do you expect in this arc?  
(4) Why does the slide has the shape of a pine tree? (it doesn't have to do with Dip's noodle arms)  
(5) Aragog too much?**

**So, yeah, tomorrow I have math test and I'm not really 'prepared'. I just opened the math book, passed my eyes through it, then closed it and went to internet. Welcome to the real world, guys. Anyway, I won't be saying much now. **

**NOTE: Also, I fixed the time, and in EPISODE 10 Dipper's clock says he woke up at '6 pm' because I kinda confused this 'time thing'. Yes, guys, they are exploring this place at the same time Dipper's meeting Ariadne. Kind of confusing, but it works for me. Also, next chapter may confuse you. MORE STRANGE DREAMS! Bye ~**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	24. Episode 24

**Episode 24: Our little secret.  
Arc: "Fallen Royalty"  
Opening: Another – Opening.**

**_. . .  
_****_. . .  
. . ._**

When Dipper woke up, he couldn't remember the dream he had, but it made his heart beat faster. Standing up, Dipper decided to go downstairs and see if there was something to eat. He grabbed the pine tree hat, but left the vest and the journal; when everything was ready, Dipper went down the stairs. And that was when he noticed there was nobody home. Stan could've gone somewhere, and Mabel was probably hanging out with Candy and Grenda. When he goes to the kitchen to drink a glass of water, somebody knocks on the door.

Dipper groaned – all he wanted to do was drink some water and go back to sleep, because he felt beat – but went to the door anyway. Before Dipper could open it, placing a hand on the knob, the door was forced open, throwing him to the ground. Three people/children entered, in which one of them was giving the other a disapproving look and the latter was carrying something big.

"What." That wasn't even a question, it was a statement.

"Danna, you have a very good way of ruining entrances." One of the boys said, as the girl stuck her tongue to him. Dipper's eyes widened. Danna had been mentioned. How many Dannas he knew? How many Dannas would stick their tongues to somebody who's lecturing them? How many– well, we all get it. Blinking a few times, Dipper thought he was still sleeping, but everything felt real; especially the pain in his back. The black-haired boy left behind in the argument sighed and extended his hand to Dipper, who gladly accepted the help.

They were definitely Asaph, Danna and Daniel.

"You guys…– what are you doing here?" He asked after a few seconds of silence, since Danna and Daniel decided to start a staring contest. After breaking eye contact, Danna glanced at Dipper.

"We gotta show you something!" She said with a smirk. "It's amazing!"

"It's dangerous, Danna." Asaph growled before having the object snatched from his hands. "Hey, that's not a toy! Be careful!"

"Pfft, I'm a big girl now; I know how to handle… whatever this thing is." Danna said, holding the object carelessly. Analyzing it carefully, Dipper could notice it was shiny and sharp. _What the hell is this? _He thought trying to find something he was missing. With its form almost completely sheltered in what looked like a silver scabbard, the object had the shape and look of a sword, but it seemed much more complex than a sword. "So, why are we here for?" Danna asked again. Asaph let out a groan of annoyance; handling Danna seemed like a much harder task.

"Remember what the mentors said, Danna?" He asked. In response, she just shrugged. Asaph blinked before turning to Dipper. "Dipper, we have to go." _Ok, now I'm confused_, the mentioned preteen thought while watching Asaph biting his lip. Meanwhile, Danna was playing with the large object in her hands and Daniel… was existing. "Come on." The black-haired boy repeated upon noticing that Dipper hadn't moved; instead, he was frowning at them. Asaph wasn't impressed, to be honest.

"Where are we going?" He sighed as Dipper asked this question. The answer wasn't very pleasant, after all. Trying to think of a way to say it delicately, Asaph began to formulate words to complete the sentence he had mentally created the best way he could, but Danna had to ruin everything with her big mouth…

"We're going to _hell_, silly!" She exclaimed loudly. Dipper raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, unimpressed.

"Excuse me?"

**_. . .  
. . ._**

"PINE TREE!"

It was no use, he wouldn't wake up. Dipper lied limp in Bill's arms; there wasn't a pulse, there wasn't a heartbeat, there wasn't a signal that he was alive. Deep inside, Bill _knew_ Dipper was alive, he could feel it. Maybe he was just trying to convince himself, but he knew his apprentice could make it. He was just lost, but not completely. Bill could feel his soul, and it was there. If he was truly dead, his soul would have already faded. The soul was very weak right now, but it was there.

"Pine Tree, please wake up…" Bill murmured, shaking Dipper's body one more time. His head lolled to the side, indicating he wasn't going to wake up, no matter what the demon did. And, before anything else could be done, what was left of Dipper's soul vanished. He was dead. "No…" _Why do I, Bill Cipher, care? I'm an all-powerful being made of pure energy, why do I care about a pitiful human? _Maybe because he wasn't a normal human, and Bill knew this.

Trying not to cry, Bill pressed Dipper's limp body against his chest, remembering the day when he almost lost his son due to the same disgusting creatures. He didn't want to lose another apprentice, another person he had gotten attached to. Bill knew he couldn't get too used to humans, because they were fragile, they would die, and he knew this. But Pine Tree was different. Pine Tree wouldn't die easily, would he?

Maybe…  
He should've heed Beatrice's advice.

_"Don't get attached to your new apprentice. One day, when you turn your back, he'll die; he is a mortal, this is his destiny."_

Unwillingly, one tear slid down his cheek. Bill never thought he would ever shed a tear after what happened the last time; after _their_ deaths. He **promised **he would never cry over anyone ever again. But he broke this promise; and he didn't care. His white wings lay on the floor, unmoving. The danger was gone, but it would be a waste of time trying to retract them. His apprentice was dead…

… Or was he?

_GASP! _The sound of a weak gasp and two following coughs right after snapped Bill out of his trance and let him paralyzed. _Cough, cough! _More coughs coming from the body under him made it clear that he was alive. Dipper Pines, his apprentice, was alive. His soul was back to normal, and stronger than ever. He felt more tears sliding down his cheek as steady, loud breaths could be heard from his apprentice.

"Bill… Why are you crying?"

**_. . ._**

"–and then I told him "of course you are, dear" and she threw a cupcake on his face!" Mabel exclaimed, finishing her story about one of her friends' birthday party, and how the guy she didn't like ended up with a cupcake being thrown at his face. Candy and Grenda laughed at the story, though it would've been more interesting if they had seen it with their own eyes. Mabel smiled.

"It's good to be away from it all and hang out! Like, forget all your problems and let the world take care of you" Candy said as she suddenly tripped on something. "Ow… The world isn't a good caretaker…" She deadpanned adjusting her glasses.

"Candy, you okay?" Mabel asked, extending a hand to help her friend. Candy gladly accepted the help offered, when Grenda leaned in to analyze the road, and then grabbed something from the floor, swinging it in the air.

"Guys, look at this!" She shouted. Mabel and Candy turned to look at her with curiosity. In her hands, there was a black prism. "I think it's some kind of necklace or something, but it's weird. And really ugly." Analyzing the prism better, Mabel could notice it was really ugly, and it looked like there was some kind of black smoke inside of it. Candy frowned; that thing was a little familiar, though she couldn't remember very well. _Why does this thing feel so familiar? _She asked mentally.

"Can I get it? I mean, my bro's a nerdy nerd, so he probably knows what it is." Mabel wasn't lying completely, but she wanted to keep the prism; even with its black form, it looked really pretty, and black fit her as much as pink, purple or any neon color. Candy and Grenda agreed with this, especially because they knew Dipper; not as much as Mabel, but enough to know he knew _many_ things.

"Sure" Grenda said, handing Mabel the prism.

"Don't forget to tell us if you discover what it is." Candy reminded. Mabel nodded; they were her friends, of course she would tell them… Right? Ha, of course, why wouldn't she? Now, she had to talk to Dipper. Speaking of which, she had noticed he was starting to act in a strange way, but he wouldn't admit it, or even tell Mabel about it. They usually confessed things to each other. Not only had his appearance changed, but also his attitude. He seemed to have less confidence than before, and was confining himself from the world. They didn't hang out as much as before now. She gripped the prism tightly in her hands. The subject was still touchy.

Mabel decided to forget about this.  
For now.

"Hey, did I tell you guys about my tenth birthday?"

**_. . ._**

_"**sO, wHaT wIlL iT bE?**"_

_Dipper was standing in front of the shadowy creature that had a smirk plastered on its face. There he was again, back to that place. Wait, what was that place? It looked familiar, but he couldn't quite remember... The smell of something that reminded him of death (probably rotting corpses) invaded his nostrils, making him gag and feel nauseous, along with the smell of smoke – although there was none. He didn't remember going to sleep at all. What was happening? How did this even happen? Dipper opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came; one wrong decision would change everything. But there was one thing that bothered him: was this a dream? If it was, then would any decision affect him?_

_"I don't know…" He murmured._

_The creature started walking forward, and the smell of death would get stronger the more it walked towards him, revealing that the smell was coming not from the field they were in, but from the "thing" itself. Dipper knew it was a creature (it had to be something), but he didn't know which one, so it would be fair to call it a "thing". It stopped at the edge of the forest, still covered in the trees' shadows, and extended a shadowy hand; the putrid smell made Dipper want to throw up. He had seen that creature before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Something about it was very familiar, and that scared him. His clothes were different as well: they were pure white. That was not his usual attire, was it?_

_"**yOu H aVe n oTh inG To LoSE, kId.**" The creature said in a loud and confident voice, which wasn't very hard to recognize even with the disharmonic and demoniac voice tone it had. The voice wasn't what bothered him, but the creature's form. With its thin and tall body, large grin crossing the face and matching the red eyes, and with its ribs showing due to being so skinny, it had the perfect appearance to look like the thing that would haunt your nightmares and make you lose sleep. Yes, that creature definitely looked familiar._

_"I don't know…" Dipper repeated again. "I don't know what... This is not a good idea… I shouldn't…" He was confused, and wanted to have a reason, but couldn't find one. What would he do? What **should **he do? He looked down in fear, not wanting to see the creature's crimson red eyes._

_"**aH, iT i S vErY sImP Le…**" Dipper took a step back when the shadowy hand lunged forward and touched his chin, forcing him to stare at the creature in the eye. Impossible to escape the eye contact, tears started to slide down Dipper's cheeks; he wanted to wake up, he wanted this nightmare to end. The thing's presence always made him feel uneasy, and it seemed to always remind Dipper that it was always there, waiting for him to sleep. He could feel a panic attack coming. "**iT iS jUs T a De AL AfTe R AlL.**"_

_"I really should go…" Dipper was forced to break the eye contact and then spun on his heels, walking to the other side of the clearing. He didn't know where to go, but this place had to end somewhere. However, as the creature's voice rang again, he stopped immediately._

_"**yOu ShO uLdN' t dO tHiS, pI nEs.**" He stopped. The creature knew his last name; why was he so surprised and bothered? "**iT' s DiP pE r, iSn'T iT? cIp HeR' S ApP re Ntic e?**" Dipper closed his eyes and tried not to think of the answer. The creature knew him, knew about his deal, and it seemed to know everything about him. He kept walking, refusing to answer the question. "**i SeE, tH eN iT' s BiLl**." The creature let out a demonic laugh; the kind of laugh you'd hear in a horror movie._

_"How do you know?" Dipper accidentally let out, and then put his hands in his mouth. Damn it, he had let out. But, while he regretted it, he needed to know. He didn't remember anything about that creature, and if it knew about his deal, and his own **first and** **last name**, it could also have more information about him._

_"**yOu aRe So m UcH LiKe H iM; sTuB bOrN, Sm ARt, HaS Tr UsT iSsU eS, aNd i cAn Se NsE Yo Ur sTrO nG A uRa.**" Dipper turned to the creature with interest, but raised an eyebrow. He never knew Bill had trust issues; yes, he was stubborn and smart. About the aura… he didn't know anything. "**i Am pR oT EcTiN g yOu. n On E Of ThE C iP hEr s CaN bE tR Us TeD. aLl yO u Ha Ve To DO iS m AkE a DeAl W iTh M e…**" Dipper seemed to think about it; that seemed like a fair deal, but there was a catch._

_There was **always **a catch._

_"Why do you want to help me?"_

_"**bE cAu Se YoU A rE AlR EaDy hElPi NG mE. i aM jUs T ReT uR nI nG Th e fAvOr. I aM a F aIR d e mO N afT Er Al L.**" Dipper didn't know what that meant. He had never encountered that creature before, why would he be helping him? And why would the creature even think about returning the favor? And... did it just call itself a demon? Certainly this couldn't be right. All of the demons he had encountered so far were either trying to get an advantage over him or didn't care at all, why would this one be any different? Dipper seemed to think about it. He already had a deal with Bill, but the demon could be dangerous; he threatened Dipper's family, after all, just to convince him to make a deal with him._

_Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea…_

_That creature was certainly strong. If it could linger in his nightmares, like Bill, perhaps it would stand a chance against his so-called 'mentor'. And, if it was all just a dream, he would have nothing to worry about, because, well, it was all just a dream..._

_"A-alright…" He stuttered, making up his mind. The creature extended its hand again (which was surrounded in a white flame) and Dipper shook it. The hand was unnaturally warm, though it wasn't caused by the flame. It was like Bill's. And a deal had been made. "But… what if Bill finds out? What if _my family_ finds out?!" That was the newest question that crossed Dipper's mind. They would never forgive him if he made a deal with two creatures at the same time, one being a demon and the other being… also a demon, but seemingly worse and more mysterious._

_"**Nobody will find out.**" The creature assures, and the voice comes out perfectly audible; the disharmony was gone, and it seemed to have full power and control. "**You're the apprentice of Bill Cipher; I'm sure you know how to keep secrets. As for me, I have nowhere to go, so I guess there isn't a chance anyone will find out, unless they are really smart.**" Dipper gulped, feeling like that hadn't helped at all._

_"Still…"_

_"**Don't worry, kid**." A grin crossed the creature's face. "**This will be our Cipher secret.**"_

* * *

**A/N: Here I am~ This is me~**

**Hello, people, dogs, cats and aliens! And TITLE REFERENCE! Yeah, Dipper made a deal with a creature he barely knows! Way to go, kid! Anyway, I've been busy with tests and stuff. And then my history teacher said we'd have to do a history seminar about Middle East and I was like, pointing to the blank blackboard and saying "look how many shits I give to this f*cking seminar". Of course I didn't do it in real life, but that's what I wanted to do. Anyways, next week we'll have the whole week without classes for the tests for people who flunked on (most of) the tests.**

**Anyway, I've been busy with shit and here's the goddamning confusing chapter. So, few questions:  
**

**(1) If someone ever told you "we're going to hell, silly" what would your reaction be?  
(2) What is the black prism the trio (Mabel, Candy and Grenda) found?  
(3) Why does Candy feel like she's already seen the prism?  
(4) Did you like the reference to the fanfic's title? XD  
(5) What does the creature mean with "because you are already helping me"?  
(6) What is the deal's "catch"?**

**Wohoo, 20.000 views baby! Yes, we're on the 24th chapter! I can't believe it! Took me long enough to make it due to laziness. Anyway, hope you enjoy the new arc. Also, I really recomment you watch Another if you like mystery, blood and as deaths as crap.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	25. Episode 25

**Episode 25: The angel of the labyrinth.  
Arc: "Fallen Royalty"  
Opening: Another – Opening.**

**_. . ._**

**_"_**_Everyone started out a little insane  
but we learned pretty quickly how to fake it for the game."_

_— Icon for Hire, Make a Move._

**_. . . _**

"What's up with all these shapes and forms?" Danna complained. "It looks like we've fallen on a children's book or in a kindergarten…" As the others ignored her and walked to the door in front of them, everything seemed to stop for a minute. Would they really be willing to risk their lives for this? _If we don't do it, who will? _Asaph wondered, lost in his own thoughts. Finally, he took a deep breath and began to push the door. The other two, noticing this, did the same.

Finally, with little effort, the door opened, revealing a place that was completely black and white surrounded with mist. The door behind them closed like the previous ones, and it was no more a surprise to them. Astonished by the room's creepiness, they took a step back, just to feel the cold wall against their backs, and it was even creepier considering that wall had never been there in the first place, and now the door was gone; there was no turning back. Suddenly they saw a silhouette coming from between the black trees, approaching them. It was hard to know if it was a female or a male, due to the mist, but the silhouette's body shape didn't lie: it either was a human, or a creature that looked like one.

The more the silhouette would get closer, the more the three kids would be able to see its form. After a few minutes of silence, it stopped in front of them as the mist dispelled. They could see it clearly now: a small, young girl, around their height. Even though her body was completely black and white with grey eyes, matching the scenario around them, that didn't seem to bother the apprentices that much. The girl smiled at them, like everything around them was perfectly normal and they weren't in a secret passageway buried deep in the underground.

"Hello…" She whispered weakly. It wouldn't have been audible if they weren't in a room completely lifeless and colorless. "Seems like you've arrived earlier than I've expected…" Danna was more confused than the others. Again, she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, therefore it wouldn't be a surprise.

"Okay, complete stranger I've never met in my entire life, one question: where are we? What are you? What the hell is this?" She asked. Asaph shot her a confused glare.

"Didn't you say it was just _one _question?" He remarked. Danna shrugged at this.

"That's why I don't like math." Everybody (except for the stranger) sighed. "So, what's up with this place? Looks like a scary version of my uncle's farm." _Ah, the farm; yeah, that place was super creepy, _thought Daniel, remembering the first time they spent a weekend on their creepy Uncle Mark's farm. And that would be the last time ever they would visit him; that place was so lifeless that it would make a graveyard look like a party. Or, at least, that was the twins' point of view. The girl in front of them shook her head, and the trio wondered what that meant.

"I thought you wouldn't make it through Arachne's trap, but seems like you did." She answered with a smile, finally snapping the three out of their thoughts. Her voice was stronger this time, compared to previously, when her voice was barely audible. "Athena's trap didn't seem to work either, but she's not the sharpest tool in the shed, even for the goddess of wisdom, since…" And she started to talk randomly about what seemed to be Greek goddesses and traps and stuff, even if that was totally useless right now. Every five seconds the trees seemed to move or grow eyes, just to spy on them; that really scared the crap out of all of them. "SO–" She shouted suddenly, making the twins shriek briefly as Asaph stirred. "–what brings you children here?"

"The real question is: where and what is _here_?" Daniel retorted, crossing his arms.

"Oh, right…" She said with an apologetic smile. "Well, I'm sure you're confused, because this place isn't like the other rooms you've been to before, but you'll get used to it; at least I did when** _he_** imprisoned me here." Sighing and looking down, the shadowy silhouette sat on the floor. "To shorten things, this is the **_limbo_**, and I will be locked here forever. Nobody can save me, and these trees are the only living things I can trust…" Danna had a question that she was eager to ask, but decided to wait upon noticing the "tale" wasn't over yet.

"**_He_** feared I was more powerful than him, and I think he didn't want to risk being killed, so he decided to fool me with his tricks and lies…" She clenched her hands into fists. "… and the worst part is that… I believed him… and when I got distracted, he locked me in here, but not before stealing my powers first... I tried to talk with him, but he didn't have anything else to say… without magic and without help, what could I have done?" Finally, Danna decided to ask her question, not being able to hold it anymore:

"Alright, but who is **_he_**?!" She blurted out impatiently. The shadow shot her a serious glare.

"**_He _**didn't tell me his name, but I could feel his corruption from miles away… I don't know why I trusted him…" She stopped briefly before continuing, with wide eyes. "… I-I can feel it… I can feel his presence… He isn't far; he's in the town… How is he _back_…?" They all looked at each other before the shadow just shook her head and stood up. "W-we shouldn't be talking about this right now… he's getting stronger; we must go right now." She began to walk away slowly, expecting the three confused children to just follow her all of sudden; because that's how the world works, right?

"Wait, how can we trust you?" Asaph inquired. The shadow stopped.

"… If you don't trust me, I won't force you to…" She answered simply before continuing on her tracks. _Damn it, she's good_, Asaph thought while his muscles stiffened. Her answer had been way too quick. "… I can't say I'm that good, but being trapped here for so long made me think more about my answers, and whomever I should trust…" While Daniel and Danna stood there, confused, Asaph was utterly astonished. Did that 'thing' (because they don't know what she _is _exactly) just read his mind? "Yes, I did." She answered again.

"How…? How do you…?" He meant to ask, but didn't know _how_ to ask it.

"**_He _**may have taken most of my powers…" She began to explain with a grin. "… But not all of them…" After this, the three followed her silently. Even though they were together, it was as if they were alone. Even if it wasn't foggy anymore, their visions wouldn't work right, and it was hard to see anything in front of them that wasn't the 'shadow-girl' leading. "… Tell me, Danna, _what do you fight for_?"

Danna stopped.

"…What?" She asked slowly. The shadow nodded, as if understanding her question. She was having a feeling of Deja-vu, as if she had already went through that situation before. And then it hit her: the forest. Of course it had to be, because all the creepy things happen in the forest. The shadow did not repeat the question, however, leaving Danna to answer it anyway. She didn't even know what to say; what could she say? The shadow had just told her she had never left that place, and yet she managed to repeat the same thing from the forest. How...? "I fight for… um… I fight against…" _Argh, think of something_, she thought. "… Starvation…" _Goddammit, best excuse ever_… _not._

"_Your _starvation, you mean," Daniel interrupted, laughing at his own joke; Asaph snorted. Danna just rolled her eyes, and then pinched Daniel and Asaph's arms. "Ow, goddammit, Danna– Why did you do that?" Daniel asked while Asaph just stared at her, as they rubbed their sore arms trying to soothe the pain.

"You were being dorks; nothing better than a pinch to solve that."

"We should forget this…" The shadow in front of them said. "After all, discord is one of the main reasons as to why I am here." She lowered her head and then turned to the three children, stopping completely. "I think I haven't presented myself yet. For now, during our journey, I want you to call me your _angel of the labyrinth_, or Angel, if it floats your boat." A smile could've been seen crossing her face. "Tell me, why are you here? I don't usually get many visits, especially because nobody dares to venture out into the woods out of the blue…"

"Well, it's kind of a long story–" Asaph began.

"–we have time." Angel cut him off, as she began to walk again. It was becoming rather boring for them, as they were just walking without any purpose, talking with something that _looked _and _talked _like a human, but it wasn't a human, or didn't seem like it; and the place they were in, _limbo_, was a rather uncomfortable place to be. Daniel nodded at Asaph, who let him handle things; it wasn't a _good _idea to let Danna in charge. And so the male twin began to explain how they had found the clues, about the library, the secret passageway and the two previous rooms. Angel just listened silently to all of this, nodding at times. "I see…"

"What do you know about this place?" Danna suddenly inquired, crossing her arms and frowning. Her voice tone was oddly suspicious, and too calm. "Also, _what _are you? You don't seem to be an actual, you know, human being."

"This place isn't a good place to be…" Angel started. Everybody rolled their eyes: duh; they were already terrified _before _entering that room. Oh, that must've been because of the giant spider… Well, it didn't matter, because that place still managed to creep them out. "…You can hear the screams of people who died in previous wars–" Just then, they all heard a blood-piercing scream; it caused the three apprentices to jump, but Angel somehow didn't even flinch. "–and there are monsters… you can hear and_ feel_ them roaming around if you listen closely…" They felt the ground shake.

"Somebody, please make her shut up…" Danna murmured upon feeling the ground slowly stop shaking.

"If I had the power, I would." Asaph said rolling his eyes.

"Tell me, Asaph, do you still have that feather you found a few hours ago?" Angel questioned. Asaph, a little shocked, nodded shakily and grabbed the half-crumbled feather from his jacket's pocket. He handed the feather to Angel, who analyzed it carefully like it was an expensive and old art piece. "Extraordinary! This is truly exotic!" She exclaimed with a smile, and then it slowly faded. "At least that bastard did something right… No, this isn't right…" Her grip on the feather tightened. "This isn't right… He shouldn't have done this, no… I feel so sorry for her... She's been through a lot, I can tell..." She murmured, though it was still audible.

"What the hell's she talking about?" Daniel murmured to the other two. They shrugged.

"I'm offended" Danna said, crossing her arms and pouting. "**_I_ **found that feather, not Asaph! She needs to think before saying something like this…" _Though it's not like I do this either_, Danna thought bitterly, remembering all the times when she opened her mouth before even thinking twice. They kept walking silently, with Angel eventually murmuring things to herself and making the place less silent. They could also feel the monsters' presences, as well as the negative energy that place brought. Sometimes, between pauses of 2-3 minutes, approximately, they could hear a blood-piercing scream cross their eardrums; curiously, these screams only started after Angel mentioned them. It was so unnatural, it was so…

… It was so wrong…

_To think we're in the limbo, _this was what all the three apprentices could think of. This black-and-white place was terrifying, but they had to fight this fear. Meanwhile, Angel noticed how quiet the place was and decided to strike a conversation. "The trees are talking to me…" She began, and stopped, attempting to 'listen' to the trees, until Danna rolled his eyes.

"Great… Another person who's gone mad due to loneliness. As if Uncle Mike wasn't enough…" She deadpanned. Daniel elbowed her harshly.

"…You have questions; I can feel your doubts." Angel continued. "Now… you may ask them if you want." And then the three apprentices couldn't help but let them out.

"Why can't you get out of this place?"  
"How did **_he _**trap you here?"  
"Why is this place so scary?"  
"How is **_he _**like?"  
"How the heck can you talk to the _trees_?"

"Now, now, I will answer all of your questions, so calm down…" She smiled while moving on, keeping a steady pace. "I can't get out of this place because of a special shield; it can feel my chi's genetics, therefore it will trap me every time I try to escape. It's dark magic…" She sighed; then another question popped on their minds: what was **_chi_**? "He managed to trap me here with this." And then she snapped her fingers, creating a hologram of a prism with her eyes. "I can't exactly tell you what it is, but I can feel the dark magic within it… Something dangerous..." And the hologram disappeared.

"What is _chi_?" Danna suddenly interrupted.

"… A sound soul, along with a sound mind, and a sound body…" Angel responded, though it wasn't the explanation they all were expecting. With a smile, she stopped, turned to them and lowered her head a little. "Keep this in mind." And then she continued walking again. "This place is scary because it is like a representation of **_his _**mind; corrupted by fear, though feared by many." She cleared her throat. "My memory is fairly weaker now, and I can't remember how he is like anymore…" She stopped and whipped around. "BUT" She continued, causing the three to stir. Their reactions made her chuckle. "I can remember one thing… A mask…"

"A mask." Everybody repeated.

"A mask." Angel nodded. "It was pitch-black, covering half of his face. I can't remember the details, but there was a scar crossing his face… I don't know what happened, though… I was afraid to ask, and I thought it would be rude. I regret not doing it." She sighed and then continued walking. _At this pace we'll never get to the damn point_, Asaph thought while groaning silently. "And I can talk to trees because…" She suddenly stopped. Everybody stopped, thrilled to know the answer, until she continued. "… I don't know."

Everybody sighed in disappointment.

"Personally" She started chatting again. "I was never that easy to fool, but **_he _**acted like such a gentleman, and so smoothly, I couldn't help but believe him. My sisters tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen, I wouldn't heed their warnings. They said I would end up harmed and even dead, but I decided to believe a complete stranger over them. What a mistake…" She scowled before continuing. The story was enthralling, without a doubt, and it kept all the three apprentices hooked like a thriller movie. "In the end, he imprisoned me. None of my sisters were able to help, but I feel like they really _didn't_ want to get involved. They didn't want to help me because, if I had listened to them, I wouldn't be here. This was and _is_ my punishment… This wouldn't have happened if… If I hadn't been so foolish…" Angel stopped talking for a while, feeling a lump on her throat. "I am not exactly corrupted…" She started talking again.

"… But I am not innocent either…"

Everything went silent.

**_. . ._**

"Here we are" She said. They all stood next to her. They were standing in front of four broken pillars; in the middle, there was an altar. On top of it, there was something shiny. Nobody but Angel knew what it was exactly; they didn't dare to make a move until Angel walked forward, causing them to follow her. She stopped right in front of the altar, and grabbed the object which was two times larger than her. She turned to the three apprentices and handed the object to Asaph. "I want you to take care of this. It is humanity's only chance of defeating **_it_**. Deep inside, I know **_he _**can still be saved, even if no one believes this but me…"

"… I see…" Asaph nodded, looking at the object. It looked like a sword, inside a golden scabbard; though it was very light.

"Well, my mission is done." She said, turning away from them and slowly walking away. "Follow the lights; they will show you the way out." Angel suggested. It seemed like the end, but Danna still had one more doubt she was itching to ask; and, this time, she would get a definite answer no matter how.

"Wait!" She called. Angel stopped and spun on her heels, turning to her. "What's your name?" She, then, interrupted herself. "Your **_real _**name, I mean."

"Hmm, I've been trapped in here for so long… Names have lost their meanings, but that doesn't mean mine has lost its meaning completely." She began. "Well, then we should start again, I guess." She walked towards them, and then stopped in front of the three curious apprentices. "It's nice to meet you…" She started, like she was really going to introduce herself, and pretending she didn't know them. She could act very well.

"… My name is Ariadne."

* * *

**A/N: Hello? ~ Is it me you're looking for? ~ **

**No? Ok. ANYWAY, I've been kinda busy with math-flunking and it seems like I did it well because what grade did I get? EXACTLY, a beautiful _F_**. ** Wasn't really that bad since I kind of already knew I would flunk SOOOO... Well, first I'd like to thank _Ender Heart Studios_ (I don't think I got that right) for doing a reading on my story, I hope you guys can check it out anytime soon. Making this chapter was a torture because there was so much things to be done and I was like "naaaah, need to rest more..." and then I started procrastinating. Yeah, life things. Anyway, we have an excerpt of one of my fav songs, MAKE A MOVE, and it really fit the fanfic so "wynaut?". And no copyright ok? Well, questions!:**

**(1) Theories?  
(2) What does "A sound soul, along with a sound mind, and a sound body" mean?  
(3) Who is _he_?  
(4) What's the object she gave them?**

**Anyway, this is it. Hope you guys enjoy this LONG fanfic. I'm having fun writing it and I hope you're having fun reading it. I mean, HOLY CRAP, it's the longest fanfic I've ever written. Well, it's my first but... Oh well.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	26. Episode 26

**Episode 26: To the Nightmare Realm [part 1].  
Arc: "Fallen Royalty"  
Opening: Another – Opening.**

**_. . ._**

"I don't think I quite understand that."

Daniel groaned after having explained everything for the fifth time while walking towards Asaph's house, with Danna alongside him. She did nothing but snigger the whole time Daniel was trying to explain to Dipper the whole story about the forest, the clues, the secret passageway and all the stuff that had been going on lately. He was failing miserably on this task, mainly because he was being messy with the whole thing, causing everything to be even more confusing, seeing that he had already explained everything to Dipper five times and nothing would really work; really, nothing. Nobody was really sure if the brunette was a lost case or Daniel lacked the ability to explain things.

"Dan, you can try to explain things later," Daniel was about to explain for the sixth time about the whole incident when Asaph interrupted him. The black-haired preteen was carrying the object which was given him by _Ariadne_, afraid that Danna would _drop _it – wasn't hard to believe she would do it; talking about Ariadne, she had also returned him the feather Danna had found on the forest, telling them she had finished her "analysis". _That girl is strange; I wonder what she meant with all the "a sound soul" talk_, Asaph thought while gripping the object tightly.

They were going to his house because he needed to hide it somewhere. As they were about to part ways and return to their houses, Asaph had received his mentor's message through a pigeon (talk about strange ways to receive letters, but maybe it was Bill's idea) and it said to meet him at the forest, and about going to hell. Asaph and the rest were walking slowly; it would've been a faster trip if they had gone running or even teleported, but Asaph was enjoying the trip so far. The road was quiet and almost no one knew that it existed, which meant the road was practically abandoned. It connected Gravity Falls and the town he lived in, Summerfield, where his house was.

"Right now, our priority is to hide this… thing." He concluded. Daniel rolled his eyes.

"If you say so."

**_. . ._**

"Dipper, what happened to your shirt?"

It was Danna who asked this. With all the rush, all Dipper managed to get were his shoes and the pine tree hat. Dipper wish he could go back to the shack to get the vest and the third journal, but that wasn't possible anymore. Asaph said they had to go to the meeting point right after he hid the object in hands, and Dipper didn't feel like arguing right now. Also, there was a chance that, being with him, Bill wouldn't try and steal the journal.

It's not like Dipper trusted him just by making a deal…  
… Of course not…

"Long story." He replied simply. "It involves a ghost girl, a story about a corrupted prince, _corbos_ and… Many other things…" He continued, not giving many details. Danna smirked at this, because it sounded like a cool story, though Dipper could really tell otherwise. She didn't know what _corbos _were, but they sounded like interesting creatures. "I was going out, when this girl appeared in the Mystery Shack and wanted me to take her to the parking lot – remind you that we _don't_ have a parking lot." Dipper grinned upon seeing Danna frown. "I knew her, somehow, and then… I-I shouldn't be talking about this… I think I'm being a bother, am I not?" He gave them an apologetic smile. Daniel shook his head.

"You're not being a bother, and the story's getting interesting. What happens next?" He asks, as if he had finished reading a thriller book and was eager to read the next one.

"I'd rather not tell but…" Dipper took a deep breath before continuing. The story still pained him inside, because of Ariadne's betrayal, but the more he told, the more it'd get funny; from another's point of view, it was surprising, but from his point of view, what Ariadne did was shocking. "… She led me through the forest and to a clearing, and then she said a word, I don't remember what it was, though…" He stopped to think before shaking the thought off his mind. "And then…" Dipper stopped…

… not only talking, but walking too.

"And then what?" Danna asked impatiently, just to be elbowed by her brother. She already knew what this meant and immediately shut her mouth, pouting.

"I-I don't want to talk about it." Dipper finished. "You… you guys know what corbos are, right?" He suddenly asked. The memory made his heart ache, and it felt like he was going to fall unconscious at any minute. The red-haired twins shook their heads, completely confused – they weren't aware of any kind of creatures called corbos, though it was a funny name. Suddenly Asaph stopped walking, and his house could be seen not very far away. He whipped his head to look at them, and all the other three kids were surprised to see his eyes so numb.

"How do you think my mother died?"

Everybody fell silent as he kept walking.

**_. . ._**

"Wait, wait, wait!" Danna suddenly said when they had finally reached Asaph's house. The four children were standing in front of the house, a little far away from the other houses of the town in Summerfield, and noticing how it was big – the house was more or less like the Mystery Shack, though. "How are we going to enter inside that house without getting your lazy sister's attention?" She asked; that wasn't such a bad question after all, though Asaph seemed to already know what to do.

"We're teleporting, of course." He answered, like it was the simplest thing ever. "Give me your hands." Asaph put the object under his arm as he grabbed Danna's hand, who grabbed Daniel's, and he grabbed Dipper's. Asaph closed his eyes for a moment as the world around them began to distort until they were on another place. It looked like a room, and it was a room; Asaph's room, obviously. "Alright, don't make too much noise; I think Ann's still downstairs."

Everybody nodded.

"Good, I need a place to hide this." He whispered. "Maybe the closet will do; it's not like Ann cares about my clothes anyway." And then he went to the large closet at the corner of the room. All the clothes were neatly folded inside and he place the object carefully inside the closet, covering it with a few clothes and underwear – Ann would never touch his underwear and that'd hide the _thing_ for some time. Ignoring Asaph for a while, Dipper noticed how neat the room was. Describing it would take a lot of time, but he had lots of books about all kinds of things; then one book caught his attention:

_Myths and facts: The door to the unknown._

Dipper took a few steps closer to analyze the book without touching it. It seemed old and dusty, and this caught Dipper's attention. He had always liked books, especially the ones about mystery, like _The Sibling Brothers_. Dipper would stay up all or most of the night reading these books and he wouldn't stop. "Hey, Asaph, can I read this book?" He asked, pointing to the old book. Asaph nodded, without even turning around. Dipper extended his hand and grabbed the book, noticing how dusty it was.

There were handprints on the dust, revealing that somebody had already read that book before. He opened the book and flicked through the pages, until he had stopped on a specific page which was titled:

**_Dream-benders:_**

Intrigued and a little surprised, he kept reading.

**_ –Are creatures capable of installing themselves inside a mortal's dreams and controlling them at their will and usually modifying them according to the mortal's fears; they usually don't have a proper form and are normally described as "shadows" or "blurs". The dream-benders don't seem to interact with the "connector" – who is the person who has the dream – in any way, and it is claimed that they just watch them from a fair distance or corner. Many people believe the dream-benders are just a myth._**

Dipper closed the book and let out a shaky breath. He had more questions than ever now. What was a dream-bender? Why do people believe they are a myth? Was… was that creature he had made a deal with a dream-bender? According to the description, it sounded like one. The thought of that creature reminded him of the only words that settled his nightmares, and that made him shiver just by thinking of them:

_"Oh, I didn't kill these filthy creatures…"  
"**You did**"_

Dipper then held both sides of his head tightly when the disheveled voice crept through his mind. Then he remembered what Keehnesi had told them, the phrase that started all this: "It is Bill's _son_; he has escaped". Escaped from where, and from whom? What were Keehnesi and Beatrice hiding from him? What were Asaph, Daniel and Danna hiding from him? What was his _family_ hiding from him? Dipper could already feel a headache coming, and he barely noticed the book had fallen to the floor. When he heard the "thud", Dipper extended his hand to grab the book, and then he noticed the page that was now different. It was between the page 44 and 47.

"Uh, Asaph, where's the 45th and 46th page?" Dipper asked suddenly.

Asaph closed the closet and turned to Dipper, looking at the book he was reading. His eyes widened slightly; he wasn't aware that Dipper was reading _that _book. "Uh, I don't know, I think it may have fallen but I'm not sure." Asaph grabbed the book and put it back on the shelf. "Alright, let's teleport back, the mentors must be waiting for us." He announced. Danna and Daniel nodded, but Dipper was lost in thought: people believed the Ciphers were a myth, and one of their family members killed all the fallen angels.

Then he remembered the dead people around him; it was a dream, but it felt so real, especially the smell of corpses, blood and death. Did he really kill them? How could he have killed people he didn't know? Were those people "fallen angels"? What were fallen angels exactly? His head felt like it was going to explode.

"Dipper, you ok in there?" Daniel asked, interrupting his thought.

"Uh…? Oh, yeah, I'm ok…" Dipper answered meekly, standing up and looking at them with a sincere glare. "I'm ok…"

But he wasn't.

**_. . ._**

"Hey, Asaph, what's that?" Danna asked when they were already far away from the house. She extended her hand and revealed the chip that had been once attached to the wyvern's neck. Danna didn't seem to be paying attention to what the mentors were saying about it back then, because she obviously didn't know what it was. When Dipper laid eyes on the chip, they widened and he almost tripped on a pebble that was on the way. Daniel was also surprised, mainly because they didn't know what had happened to the chip after the mentors took it.

"Don't touch that!" Asaph snatched the chip from her hands. Snapping his fingers, the chip was engulfed in blue flames before disappearing in front of the apprentices' eyes. Asaph had just magically teleported it back to his room; for how long had he been practicing that? "I managed to recreate the chip using magic spells and my memory of it; I've trained this for days and I'm trying to analyze the meaning of the numbers, so please don't touch my stuff unless I allow you to do so, Danna." He scolded. Danna rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

"Heh, whatever, Mr. Smarty Pants."

"Don't call me that!"

**_. . ._**

"We're here!" Asaph announced as the other three apprentices followed him through the forest. As he stopped, everything became grey, and the four children felt their bodies becoming lighter, as well as their minds. This always happened when they were in the dreamscape. Three forms appeared in front of them, shining brightly: a triangle, a square and a circle. This forced the apprentices to shield their eyes with their hands before the light dissipated completely and the forest returned to its _normal _gray color.

"Well, well, well, you're finally here. You humans are _so _slow." Bill commented, twirling the black cane around his fingers swiftly. Dipper wanted to reply with a sarcastic comment and was ready to do so, but forced himself to keep his mouth shut. Something told him to shut up and keep quiet. He shouldn't interrupt. Right now, he had to listen. "Anyways, when are we going?"

"It's not that easy, Bill." Keehnesi replied as he narrowed his eye at Bill. The square turned to the other apprentices. "Entering in the Nightmare Realm, or, as you humans call lamely, _hell_, isn't as easy as it sounds, because–" Suddenly Bill interrupted him harshly, pushing him to the side and dramatically answering:

"Because many half-demons have felt disturbing pains and most of them died." All of the apprentices paled. Beatrice laughed hysterically whilst Keehnesi shot Bill a glare that was equal to one thousand daggers going through your soul. "What? The first part is true." Keehnesi shot Beatrice another glare, and she immediately fell silent. Sighing, Keehnesi pushed Bill out of the way.

"Ready?" He asked as a bright light surrounded that area of the forest. It formed a circle around them. The four children wanted to scream "NO!" but their heads simply nodded, as they felt eager to finish this. It would be easier this way. The light got brighter and it turned out to be of a bright golden color, but then it flicked to blue, then to pink, and the sequence continued. A pink light surrounded Asaph, who felt a tinge of pain at his fingertips just before being lifted into air, with small particles surrounding his body and circling it; Asaph seemed a bit shocked, but nothing more; they didn't even need to be shocked at this point. The same happened to Daniel and Danna right after, but the light's color was blue, as well as the particles surrounding them; Daniel seemed a little scared while Danna seemed excited.

"Don't freak out" Keehnesi said; no one knew if it was a suggestion or a warning. "The pain is just the power running through your veins; it gets stronger when you're in the Nightmare Realm or in the borders. Now just close your eyes and focus…" Dipper didn't hear the rest of the _lecture_. His mind went numb as he watched his comrades in awe, afraid to be the next one and afraid to feel the pain. They didn't look very pleased, but it didn't seem that bad either.

And then it was his turn. He felt a golden light surrounding his body, that felt light suddenly, and the next thing he knew was that he was being lifted off the ground. After this, his whole body started tickling before this became pain; absolute pain. Dipper suppressed a groan of pain before everything around him started to fade. He turned to Asaph, Daniel and Danna, to see if he was really becoming blind, but they were still there, with their pupils gone. Their eyes were shining in pink and blue respectively, and this made Dipper want to look at this own reflection.

Soon the pain became almost unbearable and all the apprentices grimaced with the pain, not wanting to show any weakness. Dipper clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, hoping it would go away soon. The world finally faded until everything around them was black; the mentors were nowhere to be seen. Keehnesi's voice rang in this head: _don't freak out_. Dipper tried to relax, even with the pain that was now forming a headache, and then remembered another thing that Keehnesi had said: _just close your eyes and focus_. And Dipper did so.

Soon he couldn't feel the pain and he felt gravity affecting him once more as his feet touched the ground and noticing how cold the place was. Dipper opened his eyes slowly as he looked at his surroundings; it was almost like the forest he had been a while ago; _almost_. Even with the sky as blue as ever, something that didn't seem to be common for somewhere like the Nightmare Realm, it was pretty obvious that this place wasn't Gravity Falls because of one important thing:

"Goddammit" Danna exclaimed loudly. "I've lived in America for God knows how long and I've never seen snow, or an avalanche or anything and then the first time I see snow is in _hell_? It's snowing for fuck's sake! What a controversial thing! I was expecting more screaming and torture and stuff but NO! The first thing I see is SNOW, something totally… calm!"

"Danna, get ahold of yourself" Daniel warned, but he couldn't help but be impressed either:

It was snowing in hell.

* * *

**A/N: Hahahahahahaha I'm laughing so hard right now.**

**Yeah, I've always thought that the "hell-is-somewhere-horrible-and-you-see-people-burning-everywhere" issue was rather cliché and since "hell" and "Nightmare Realm" are the same in this fanfic then I'll make something different. SNOW, YAY! I've never seen snow T-T live in Brazil (in Rio). I tried doing something funny but seems like I failed :P anyway, let's begin the questions:**

**(1) Dream-benders?  
(2) Snowing in hell/Nightmare Realm, would you expect that?  
(3) What would you do if you went to the Nightmare Realm and it started to snow?  
(4) What was written in page 45 and 46?**

**Anyway, that's all because I'm lacking creativity today :/ even thought I made it snow in hell. BYEEEEEE, and sorry for the late update, I have no excuses :P**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	27. Episode 27

**Episode 27: To the Nightmare Realm [part 2].  
Arc: "Fallen Royalty"  
Opening: Another – Opening.**

**_. . ._**

"I'm home."

This was what Candy announced, as she proceeded to make her way to the living room after taking off her shoes, but still using her socks. She liked to walk around like this, because it felt comfortable, and adding with the wooden-made floor, it felt like she was ice-skating. However, Candy no longer had time for pretending to be ice-skating on the floor of her living room, because she had a serious business to attend with her books and internet; there was something plainly wrong here. And it had to do with that prism; it all started with that prism. Candy had taken some mental notes on that prism:

– While prisms are transparent, this one was black. Her glasses never failed her.  
– The prism looked like a long, hexagonal one, but its ends were triangular-shaped.

Something felt very, very wrong. Every time Candy though about it, she could feel butterflies in her stomach, and she would grow nervous; she thought that only happened whenever she thought about music camp; man, she hated that place. Walking towards the living room, Candy noticed her uncle and aunt watching a random sitcom while sitting together in the sofa. Candy's aunt, a middle-aged woman named Olga Jackson, turned to her with a soft smile – which reminded her of a grandma's smile more than an aunt's one.

"You're back already, sweetie? Why don't you come here and watch this sitcom with us?" She invited. Olga was usually nicer than her husband, Gary, who was more reserved; many people mistook this for aloofness, but he was a very cool guy when you have the chance to know him. Candy looked at the TV; it was a tempting offer, but she had more important things to do right now. And they had to do with that strange prism and this feeling on her guts; the feeling that something was wrong.

"Um, sorry, Aunt Olga, but I need to, uh, do homework." She lied, but just after realizing what she had said, she corrected herself. "I-I mean… Uh… NON-SPECIFIC EXCUSE THAT I'M INVENTING TO GO UPSTAIRS, BYE!" Without waiting for an answer, Candy headed upstairs and to her room. She closed the door behind her and locked it swiftly. Candy sighed and jumped on her bed, grabbing the nearest plush toy which turned out to be a blue dog with colorful dots. She hugged it tightly to her chest while looking at the ceiling.

"I hope you have the answers to this, Dipper."

**_. . ._**

It was snowing fiercely.

And that was what scared Dipper the most. It was snowing; snowing in hell; in HELL; SNOWING; it was snowing _in hell_. Oh, but that wasn't the creepy part yet. The creepy part was that he couldn't feel the snow. At all. There was snow on his hair, under his feet, maybe inside his shirt and everywhere else, but he couldn't feel it. He didn't even feel cold! At first he felt cold, but the further they walked, the hotter it would become; he'd see pine trees all around, and snow as well, but now the place was becoming hotter than the Sahara desert itself. All that was creeping Dipper out in a way he couldn't explain. The twins and Asaph had already taken off their jackets, because they were almost dying with how hot it actually was in hell. Was this even hell to begin with? The mentors should know, but he was too bothered to ask anything.

The mentors…

They were still on their demon forms. Behind them, Bill was twirling his cane in boredom, Beatrice was looking ahead – clearly bored as well – and Keehnesi had his eyes closed and in deep thought, probably focusing on something really important that wasn't his business. Obviously, Dipper wanted to know; curiosity always got the best of him, but Keehnesi was a demon: a dangerous demon that could kill him in a pinch. Dipper always made sure to remember that when he was around any demon or unnatural creature three times more powerful than him. But…

He was a demon too, so…

Should he fear himself?

Dipper knew he should, because he could kill someone… or even himself. The thought made him shiver unwillingly. Everything was so awkward. One day he was a human, and then one summer changed everything; this led Dipper to wonder: what if he hadn't gone to Gravity Falls? What would've happened? What would've changed? Would he be in this mess? Would he still have to kill a wyvern and then be forced to travel down to hell? He suppressed a chuckle; it would have been funny if it wasn't downright tragic. Really, really tragic.

Trying to stop thinking about the mentors for a second, Dipper started thinking about the object Asaph was carrying earlier. With all the commotion, he had forgotten to ask about it, and he was going to do so, but one part of his mind told him to drop the subject there and then. That was when Dipper forgot about the subject for a minute, and then he completely erased the question from his mind. Was it really worth it? Was all this worth the effort? How did he even get himself in a deal with Bill Cipher?

_"I can torture your whole family for eternity."_

This sent shivers through Dipper's spine. He decided to just forget about it.

**_. . ._**

Dipper could feel his lungs being cooked inside of his body.

Bill seemed a little amused by his struggle, as every step seemed like a torture. All of the apprentices had been having trouble breathing ever since that part of hell turned from "an acceptable heat" to "burning as much as hell itself". Dipper glared at Bill at the corner of his eyes. If the demon had a mouth, he'd be smirking. Why did Dipper even expect a change? He had seen Bill's weaknesses. He had seen him cry; over him; over a pathetic half-demon; over an apprentice.

Dipper was now confused: was this a good or bad thing? He had seen his _mentor_ crying; crying over him; over his "death". But was that really a weakness? Was Dipper Bill's weakness? Was he really that important at the point of someone crying over him? And an all-powerful _dream-demon_, no less? Dipper bit his lower lip; this sensation felt so awkward. Was he really important to Bill, or just another pawn that he needed?

No.  
He wasn't important.  
He was a pawn.  
He was _just_ a pawn.

And that's what he's condemned to be.

**_. . ._**

Dipper felt like he was walking inside a volcano.

Not that he had walked inside many volcanos before, but it still counted. All of the apprentices were wheezing as their pace became slower than when they actually started walking. Dipper had already felt that sensation before; the sensation of his lungs burning. Suddenly he stopped, and everything seemed to stop as well. Dipper felt the bile rising in his throat. He could see it…

He could see all the corpses.  
He could see all the missing limbs.

He could feel the despair.  
And he could smell the sickeningly metallic aroma of _blood_.

Dipper ran to the nearest pine tree he could find and immediately vomited everything he had eaten before. Right after doing this, Dipper took a deep breath; his lungs were aching terribly, and the aftertaste of vomit wasn't making anything better. Dipper took a few seconds to regain his balance after a moment of dizziness. He'd never expect that this memory would affect him so much; but it did. However, as Dipper turned around to apologize for running off so suddenly, he realized something:

He wasn't in the Nightmare Realm.  
Not anymore.

**_. . ._**

_Where am I?_

He was no longer in the snowy forest. He was in a hallway now, and in the end of it there was a double door, painted in black. The blood-red walls seemed to confine him as Dipper stared at the end of the hall; golden irises focusing only on that door. He hesitantly took one light step forward – almost tip-toeing; was he willing to do this? Where was he? What was behind that door? Why did he feel like he needed to know this? Again, curiosity took the best of him and Dipper seemed to forget all questions.

Biting his lower lip, he took another step forward, and the floor under him seemed to slowly crumble, like any wrong move would cause it to succumb under his weight. Dipper hissed lightly as his heart beat faster upon noticing how the floor creaked when he took another step forward. Maybe that place was old? No, highly unlikely. The paint on the walls didn't seem to be old enough, and the double door looked new and recently cleaned. The floor also seemed to be strong enough to handle a normal person's weight, but why couldn't it handle his? What could that possibly mean?

Dipper started walking again towards the door, ignoring the sound of the floor crumbling under him; ignoring the walls confining him and making him feel claustrophobic. Closing his eyes, Dipper focused on nothing, on the absolute nothingness. That was when he stopped completely at the sound of something falling onto the floor and shattering into pieces…

**_CRASH! _**_"LET ME GO!"_

… along with a child's cry.

With his heart racing, Dipper stiffened briefly and opened his eyes. In front of him, there was a giant, pitch-black double door; the one he had seen at the end of the corridor. Dipper gulped, and felt like one million butterflies were flying in his stomach; the strange sensation made him feel worse. After he heard that cry and the sound of shattering glass, everything had stopped, and everything fell silent… a little too silent…

**_BANG! BANG! BANG!_**

Dipper jumped.

_"LET ME GO! I WANT MY BIG BROTHER!" _

Without any hesitation, Dipper took a step forward. He didn't know what to do, but many possibilities were passing through his mind. Break in? Call somebody? Go away and pretend nothing had happened? Hissing sharply, Dipper knew he needed to think quickly, but he wasn't one to work under pressure; no, not at all. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, making Dipper's whole body tremble in agitation. Without a second thought, Dipper kicked the door – which suspiciously opened too easily –, and what he saw made him freeze in place, completely stiff.

Behind the black doors, there was a completely messed room, with a broken bed and vases, torn curtains and a sickeningly sweet scent around the room. The first things Dipper noticed were the bloody walls and floor. There was blood under his shoes, and for the first time Dipper was glad that he was wearing them. The scene that was happening in the middle of the room, however, was so loud that Dipper couldn't believe it, immediately feeling regret for kicking the door so loudly and wishing he hadn't done so.

**_. . ._**

_"HELP ME!"_

That was what the child had shouted to him.

He couldn't really recognize the child's gender because of the big eyelashes and feminine body, but the gender wasn't the biggest of his problems right now. The most noticeable thing was the child's eyes; the child's golden eyes. Golden irises much like his, which made Dipper suppress a shaky breath that was threatening to escape his mouth. Long, white hair was sprawled everywhere, making a mess on the child's face and contrasting their golden eyes. There were white pieces of cloth everywhere but on the child themselves, meaning that they should've been wearing a shirt before. Fear was evident in the child's eyes as they could not stop staring and screaming at the creature in front of them, sharp canine teeth showing. But, out of all this, what scared Dipper the most?

Perhaps it was the blood clawing through his shoes? Perhaps it was the child's bloodcurdling screams from utter fear and guilt? No, nothing of this scared Dipper more than the creature in front of him…

The creature from his nightmares.

A scream died in Dipper's throat, as for his shock overtook the fear and replaced it. That was the creature he had made a deal with, and the creature that he had trusted. That made Dipper think: why? Why was he being so foolish? Why was he trusting a creature he didn't know? Just… why?

Again, Dipper was snapped out of his thoughts when the creature hissed at the child under him, keeping a tight grip on their throat at the point of chocking them. For some reason, none of them were noticing Dipper standing there, as if he was invisible. Dipper didn't know if that was good or bad, but he needed to do something; unfortunately, his body had other plans: he was _paralyzed_. The child struggled and writhed, but the creature didn't let go; instead, its grip tightened around their neck and they gasped for air, their neck already turning red. Dipper gritted his teeth and took a step back.

And another one; and another one; and another one… That was when Dipper noticed he was leaning against the wall, and that was his chance. Without taking his eyes off the creature and the child, Dipper slowly touched the wall, trying to find the door; the exit to that vile place. However, there was _no_ door there; not anymore, at least. The door was gone, completely vanished. Dipper couldn't believe it: the door was his _only _way to enter, and the only way to go out.

He was stuck.

_"Help… me…" _The child murmured fearfully with the lack of air hitting them. Dipper felt useless, unable to help that kid. He wanted to move and attack that thing, but his legs were too shaky and he felt like he was going to faint at any minute. But then one thing happened. The creature let go of the child's neck, dropping him to the floor. Dipper though the creature was done or maybe got bored, but all had just started. The child on the floor gasped when the creature lunged for them.

The creature bit the child's neck, earning a scream from them. The scream echoed through the room and through Dipper's skull, piercing his mind. He fell to the floor, too scared to even move or thing, as the creature sunk its sharp teeth on the child's neck until a sickening cracking sound was heard, and blood spilled all over; both on the floor and in Dipper's face.

He screamed.

Dipper never wanted this. All he wanted was to have a normal life like a normal kid, to grow up fast and then have a girlfriend. But _no_, this had to happen; he _had to _make a deal with a demon to protect his sister and her sanity. Why was he so selfless? Why did he risk his own life in exchange of his sister's? At what cost? Dipper already had the answer to this. He knew why he risked his life for Mabel's so much. Because…

… That's what a Pines would do.

When the creature was done, the scenario around them started to fade. The creepy part was that the child's corpse was still there, facing Dipper with those lifeless golden irises. Dipper shivered. He started to walk backwards as the creature stood up and then turned to him, its bloody mouth hanging, revealing sharp teeth. It started to walk towards Dipper slowly, each step taking at least two seconds. Dipper though he had enough time to run; but he didn't.

The creature stopped in front of Dipper as he stopped as well. Silence reigned as the dead child's irises watched Dipper intently, and he felt like those eyes were staring at his _soul_. He turned his attention to the creature that now was watching him with a large grin; the creepiest grin Dipper had ever seen.

It lunged at him.

* * *

**A/N: Heeyyyy...**

**I have no excuses now. Just plain laziness. Enjoy the chapter and the cliffhanger. Bye XD**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	28. Episode 28

**Episode 28: To the Nightmare Realm [part 3].  
Arc: "Fallen Royalty"  
Opening: Another – Opening.**

**_. . ._**

"Ugh, where am I? My heads hurts like hell,"

Asaph and Daniel woke up with a groggy and cranky Danna complaining about why they were lying on the floor in the middle of a forest, with Asaph holding an unknown object and the floor completely creaked. Asaph blinked and rubbed his eyes, to see if whatever was happening was true or if they were dreaming. In fact they weren't; the trio was lying in the middle of the floor and for some reason Asaph was holding an object which he had no knowledge of.

Slowly, Daniel was the first to stand up, slightly swaying to the side and a little dizzy, but quickly shaking it off. Danna was the second, but she seemed already full of energy for she jumped off the floor and seemed perfectly fine; as if there were no side effects whatsoever. Asaph was the last one to stand up, but did so after a few seconds. He looked down at the object lying on his feet and quickly bent down to snatch it.

"What is this?" He asked himself loudly.

"A better question would be 'where are we?' because I don't know." Danna pointed out. Asaph rolled his eyes and analyzed the object a little, trying to memorize every inch of it. "Asaph, stop staring at this sharp-pointed thing like it is some kind of Mona Lisa art of whatever and let's get out of this place." She whined, annoyed by the fact that Asaph decided to completely ignore her. He sighed.

"Okay, let's get out of here first; this will be our priority right now, but right after, we're going to find out what this is – it's not here for nothing!" While he said that and Danna waved her hand dismissively, looking around, checking all the exits – and deciding from which one she should start the 'eenie meenie' – Daniel looked at his pocket clock (yes, he had one of these). 6:24 pm. He swore they had been there before, _one minute_ exactly before this all happened.

"Um, guys?" Daniel called, still staring at the clock surprised. "Does any of you remember what time it was _before_ we 'woke up'?" Danna was going to answer sarcastically but Asaph was way faster, and his memory rarely failed him.

"6:23 pm exactly; why do you ask?" Daniel walked to him and showed him the pocket watch without saying anything. Asaph's eyes widened. "Whoa, this can't have happened! How come we blacked out and then woke up here, and just _one _minute passed? This is impossible _unless_ this is another day." Daniel nodded; that was a possibility, but a very low one. Suddenly Danna whipped out a calendar and pointed it at them.

"Nope, this is still the same day we slept before waking up in Artemis knows where." Danna remarked. _Artemis? _Asaph mentally asked himself. _And where did she get that c- never mind… _"Anyhow" Danna said, snapping her fingers as the calendar got surrounded by flames and disappeared in a pinch. _What-how-when-where-why did she learn that?! I've been training that trick for months! _Asaph thought with wide eyes.

"Ok, what direction, then, Miss 'Dora the Explorer'?" Daniel said sarcastically. Danna sneered at him.

"I don't know; aren't you always mentioning you're better than me at directions? Why not lead the way, Mister 'Go Diego Go'?" She remarked. Daniel blushed in embarrassment. His ditz of a sister had just owned him. But again he should've kept his damn mouth shut. Asaph joined them quickly and cleared his throat.

"Can't we solve this _politely_?" He asked in annoyance.

"Not really" Danna answered dismissively. "Now move; I don't pay you to stand there like a statue." Asaph's eyes twitched.

"You don't pay me for anything."

"That's why I said 'I don't pay you'. Now _move_" Asaph sighed while gripping the object in his hands tightly. Something told him this would lead them to something so, so dangerous they would regret it later; this was already affecting him: he was starting to badly regret this hunt. So, in the end, he and Daniel followed Danna as the trio disappeared within the forest, swallowed by the giant pine trees around them.

**_. . ._**

**_PENANCE._**

_That was the word that echoed through Dipper's mind as the creature pounced at him, dropping both to the floor as he started to struggle in its hold, air escaping his lungs. He kicked the creature on where he supposed it was its abdomen, throwing it forward and off of him. Dipper had enough time to stand up and escape; he did the first thing, but did not move. Instead, he was analyzing the beast in hopes to discover any useful information that he could use to defeat it, but the creature was purely black._

_There was nothing that he could do to defeat it._

_The creature lunged at him again, but Dipper dodged; barely. One of the creature's claws ripped his shirt's sleeve and Dipper stumbled to the side, losing his balance and falling to the floor. Everything was getting blurry and his head was hurting like hell, but the adrenaline in his veins prevented him from fainting as he stood up in a jolt and started looking around, to see if the creature was still there._

_It wasn't._

**_PENANCE._**

_The word repeated itself in Dipper's mind again as he was thrown against an invisible wall by an invisible force, creating a hole in said wall and causing a scream of pain from Dipper as he felt his bones being crushed under the force which was now gripping his neck in the same way the creature did with the child which was now lying dead a few meters away from him. _

_Dipper's heart was racing faster than ever; even faster than when he first faced Bill. His mind was heavy and it was hard to think of anything; with this, he wouldn't last longer, but what else could he do now? He was cornered._

_The air escaped Dipper's lungs as he felt himself losing all strength and control of his own body, struggling to escape, but failing. Anxiety took its place in his mind. Finally, Dipper's vision started to fade as he closed his eyes, giving in to the darkness, but not before picturing the creature's black eyes in his mind; the black eyes that would never let him sleep ever again; and then, when everything went black, the word that haunted him decided to repeat itself one more time:_

**_PENANCE._**

**_. . ._**

"Danna, _where in the seven hounds of hell are we_?" Daniel asked in an annoyed voice tone.

"Hey, I did what you told me; I'm following the compass! The thing is: I can't understand shit about it." Danna explained while tapping the compass's glass, trying to 'fix' it somehow. "I mean, what are those letters supposed to mean? 'N' for 'not even close'? 'W' must mean 'whoa, you're really THAT stupid' or 'where the fuck are you going, lad?'" Danna wisecracked as Daniel groaned very loudly and snatched the compass from her hands. "Hey, I was trying to use that!"

"If you keep on 'trying' we'll be here forever," Daniel explained as he pointed to a certain direction. "We're heading there—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Danna interrupted. "Since when did we decide who should take charge of things?"

"Since Asaph and I decided we wanted to get the hell out of here BEFORE it gets dark and we actually don't think you're going to learn how to use a compass anytime soon." Danna stuck her tongue at him and the trio kept walking silently, alert to all sounds, eager to get out of the endless forest of pine trees before it darkened, being swallowed by the trees around them and slowly disappearing within sight.

**_. . ._**

Dipper opened his eyes in a snap.

Everything was dark and blurry, and he blinked to adjust his sight. Now everything was becoming clearer; he was back in the attic, with the clothes he was using when he went to sleep before all of this happened. Looking at his side, he noticed Mabel's bed was empty. He blinked a few times and stood up. What had just happened? Then everything came to his mind at once: Bill's deal, his son, the apprentices, Ariadne, the strange object in Asaph's hands, the corbos, the strange creature's attack and everything else.

Dipper's heart started racing. "Was it just a dream? It can't be! It was so real…" Should he just forget about that? Perhaps it _was _a dream… right?

He turned to the door and began descending the stairs, with his heart racing. What kind of dream was that? A dream as realistic as that shouldn't cross his mind without a meaning; perhaps Dipper was too worried about Bill and dreamt about him making a deal with the demon. He stopped halfway the floor; there was just a way to confirm it right now; he looked at his arm, searching for any signs of cut; there were none. This only meant one thing: it _was _a dream.

Sighing in relief, Dipper reached the bottom of the stairs, entering the kitchen.

Mabel was there, eating pancakes – though they were so covered in glitter that it was hard to know if it was pancakes that were under it. Grunkle Stan was also there, eating along with her. For a moment, Dipper's heart started beating steadily. "Hey, Dipper, I made the pancakes this time!" Mabel said with a large smile. First, Dipper looked at her and Stan's plates, both covered in an incredible amount of (hopefully eatable) glitter. Then, he looked at the ceiling, where a great amount of pancake dough was glued into.

One of the pancakes fell on his face.

"… I think I noticed…" Dipper answered simply as he wiped the dough off his face (barely) and headed to the table. Stan was reading a newspaper and barely made any eye contact with anyone; well, everything was back to normal. "Mabel, I just had the weirdest dream" And then, while eating his pancakes, which were literally tasteless, (but he did it to not hurt Mabel's feelings), Dipper got a strange feeling.

Something was wrong.

**_. . ._**

"Guys, random question" Danna broke the silence just as they got out of the forest and heading into the city; the trio could already see the sunset, which meant they had to go home, and fast. Asaph and Daniel stopped to look at her. She pointed to the sword-looking object in Asaph's hands. "What do we do with this shit?"

"Danna, first of all" Daniel started before Asaph had the chance. ", don't call it a _shit_."

"Why not? It has feelings?" Danna asked emotionlessly while crossing her arms.

"No… I think… I _hope_." Daniel rolled his eyes and pinched his nose; how would he put that into words? "But I don't want to mess with it; we don't know what it is yet, and I'm _not_ eager to discover it tonight. I'd like to _live_, and you're hearing this from a demon's student." Asaph's lips curved into a smile; if Daniel was trying to be serious, he was failing. "Second of all, and don't interrupt me, we're going to Dipper's house, get him and find out all the things that have been happening; together. Then we tell him what happened to us."

"Well, I agree with you. We're all in the same boat now. And if we don't do our part as a team, the boat will sink." Asaph stated, but then sighed. "Though I'm almost sure he won't understand. I'm still confused about all this, and I've lived it." He closed his eyes and face palmed. "Goddammit, I need a new crew."

"Alright, alright, let's tell him" Danna agreed. "Um, another random question…"

"What is it now?" Daniel groaned; he just wanted to go home.

"Is it just me, or do you guys have the feeling that we're… messing with dark magic?" Danna suddenly stopped. The three of them stood there, facing each other. Ariadne's words echoed through their minds in unison: _I can't exactly tell you what it is, but I can feel the dark magic within it… Something dangerous... _Danna had been having this feeling ever since; a strong feeling of _guilt _and… Wait, why did she even care?

"I don't know, but we'd better be alert." Daniel said, making eye contact with Asaph. He nodded; yes, they should be alert.

They were messing with dark magic, after all. Daniel face palmed.

"I'm definitely not sleeping tonight."

**_. . ._**

Dipper ate the last slice of pancake there was left and then stared at Mabel, trying to see if there was something going on; he wanted a signal. A signal of something… suspicious… He didn't get any. Obviously Mabel was still the same, and was blabbering about how she was going to get boys and Mermando and all the stuff she would usually say. That was, until she turned to him and asked: "Hey, Dipper, can we go out?"

"Uh, sure…" Dipper answered, still unsure of what to do.

"Great! I want to catch some barf fairies!" Mabel cheered. In Dipper's mind, there was nothing wrong with her or her personality, but Dipper couldn't help but feel that her enthusiasm was so… fake. His mind said, _'take it easy, you just woke up from a strange dream and you have to calm down'_, but his instincts said _'run. Run, and don't stop until you're far away from the Shack!'_ and Dipper reached the point where he was divided by his mind and instinct.

"Ok, I'll just… uh… grab the journal and, um, then we can go…" Dipper said nervously as his heartbeats got faster. He had left his book on the attic, but he couldn't care less about it right now. That was merely an excuse to leave the kitchen as soon as possible; he wanted some time alone. _Am I going insane? _Dipper pondered while slowly standing up and walking towards the door. When he was about to exit the kitchen, however, a jolt of electricity ran through his body and forced him to jerk back. _What the… _

"Don't leave me…" Mabel pleaded in a dark tone.

"No…" Dipper whispered in horror as he turned to her, his heart beating faster than before. "No, no, no, no, no, _no_" He whispered. Why couldn't he have a break for once?! Mabel was staring at him; her eye's sclera was completely dark, and her iris was glinting in a red, warning tone. There were no pupils.

"Stay with us…" Stan said as he lowered the newspaper he was holding, just to reveal that his eyes were the in the same state as Mabel's. Dipper took another step back, the world distorting around him, and Mabel and Stan staring at him with their demonic eyes, staring at his soul. Dipper took a few steps back, just before receiving another jolt of electricity that forced him to jump forward. Just then, Dipper understood.

He wasn't supposed to escape.

"Stay with us, Dipper…" Mabel's doppelganger pleaded, red irises staring down at him. "Stay with us forever…" Dipper completely lost his breath upon noticing how the world around him started to become black and red, dark clouds forming around the shack with a blood red sky. "Don't abandon us…" She… no, _it_ pleaded. Stan's doppelganger immediately joined the chorus of Dipper's nightmares.

"Stay with us… Stay with us… Stay with us…" They kept chorusing. Dipper wanted to run, but the jolts of electricity he received were too strong and made his entire body ache; he couldn't think, his mind was only focusing on the doppelgangers' eyes, staring at him while they kept repeating the same phrase; the same plea. Then, unexpectedly, Mabel's doppelganger stopped. It opened its mouth and blood started to gush from it, the sickening scent invading Dipper's nostrils.

The vision of all the blood Mabel's doppelganger was vomiting plus the horrible scent made Dipper's hands fly to his mouth, trying to prevent him from throwing up. Stan's doppelganger stopped as well, its face contorting while Dipper was forced to watch this in agony. Then its eyes started to move until larvae came crawling from his mouth, eyes, ears and all other parts of his body; the larvae were just as red as the blood Mabel's doppelganger was vomiting.

Dipper knew he couldn't handle this anymore.

Without any hesitation, he turned to the kitchen's door and, without any options, threw himself against it. He felt the jolts of electricity running through his body, attempting to block his way, but Dipper wasn't going to give in; he wanted to go home, and that definitely wasn't his home. He fought against the electricity running through his veins, the headache forming in his head, his vision going blurry and the pain all together. He was strong, he was strong…

**_BANG!_**

A gunshot.

**_BANG!_**

Two gunshots.

**_BANG!_**

Three gunshots.

Dipper was momentarily dazed and didn't dare to look back and wonder where the gunshots came from; he really didn't want to know.

**_RRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKK… _**

**_RRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKK… _**

**_RRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKK!_**

The unrecognizable sequence of sounds invaded Dipper's ears as he fell face-first on the floor, having passed through the electricity field. Obviously, that didn't even bother him as he stood up as quickly as he could and tried to open the nearest door to the outside. Locked. _No, no, no, this can't be happening to me! _Dipper thought, in panic, as he turned his back to the door, watching the kitchen carefully. It was quiet; Dipper didn't like this silence. He always enjoyed some silence, especially to read the journal, but right now he didn't want to listen to his own heart beating faster than it ever did.

He turned to the door again and took a deep breath to calm himself down. He took a few steps back, and looked back; Mabel and Stan's doppelgangers were still staring at him with black, lifeless eyes and creepy grins on their mouths. Dipper prepared for the impact; he focused as much as he could and tried not to think of his aching muscles and racing heart.

"Three… Two… ONE!" Dipper screamed.

He ran as fast as he could and closed his eyes, ready to collide with the locked door. In Dipper's mind, this would be futile, because he was _weak_, but then something happened; something that surprised him a lot.

The door cracked into one million pieces under his pressure.

Dipper collided with the floor, just barely awake, and felt one million volts of electricity running through his body, veins, muscles, eyes and all of his intern organs. He resisted the need to scream of pain and stood up weakly, looking back. The shack was burning in red flames, a maniac laughter echoing through his mind. Finally, the pain was too much for Dipper to bear; a soft voice going through his mind was the last thing he heard before everything went black.

And the voice said:

**_"Ó̴h͠͝,̀ ͢y̛̕͟o͝͏͡u̸͏͜ a͘͝͠n̷d̀ ̶̕Í ͡a_****_҉_****_́r̢e̶ ̸̸̵g̴òi̸͜͟ņ̛g ́t͡o͞ ̴͜g͢͠e̛t̸̛ a͝lo̵n̕g͟ ̷j̶͘u̷̸s̕t̶ f̡̡̀ì̡͝n͏e̡̛,̵͟ l_****_҉_****_i͡t̸̷͠tlè͝ ̸b̶̡ŗ͏òt̛he̷͏r̨̀"_**

* * *

**A/N: YO, PEOPLE!  
**

**I'm so, so, so sorry for the delay so I decided to do a big chapter to make up for my laziness! I kinda did that one with much animation, because I'm trying to end up the fanfic as hard as I can though I dunno if I will be able to :/ my school requires much attention so that I won't flunk, and I really need to start studying the minute I enter the classroom! So, yeah, let's start da question:**

**(1) "Penance"? What would that mean?  
(2) Are you sleeping tonight?  
(3) What just happened?!  
(4) Who was that "voice" that Dipper heard?  
(5) Are they going to get along?**

**Many mysteries ahead! The next chapter is the last chapter of the arc "Fallen Royalty"! I still need to find a title for the next arc, though XD any ideas? I'd like good ones, please! So, yeah, bye-bye! And don't forget to comment!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	29. Episode 29

**Episode 29: To the Nightmare Realm [part 4].  
Arc: "Fallen Royalty"  
Opening: Mirai Nikki – Opening (1).**

**_. . ._**

_"I don't wanna go to school  
I just wanna break the rules  
Boys and girls across the world  
putting on our dancing shoes"_

_— Charli XCX, Break The Rules._

**_. . ._**

"_i_er! D_p_er! Goddammit, wake up, man!"

Dipper immediately snapped out of his dream-like state after Danna slapped him in the cheek – rather harshly – and made him fall on the floor, covering him in snow. Dipper blinked twice before his hand landed on the cheek that Danna had just hit, trying to soothe the pain that came right after; how did she have so much strength for a girl— oh, wait… half-demon. Oh, right…

"Ow! Danna, what— _ow_…" Dipper gritted his teeth and shot Danna a glare.

"I like slapping people. You were the first, but not the last…" She answered mysteriously, and rather stupidly, too. Everybody shot her a glare, even the mentors. Beatrice was _starting _to question her own choice of agreeing to let Danna join this little _field trip_. "What? Are you going to sue me now?" She asked, raising her hands in the air. "Come on, arrest me." Keehnesi rolled his eyes and, in a snap of fingers, Danna's wrists were handcuffed. "HEY!" She protested.

"You asked for it." Keehnesi said simply.

"I didn't mean literally! It was sarcasm!" She complained, trying to free herself from the handcuffs, but with no use. Asaph immediately noticed they were "demon-proof", as he had heard before. Or half-demon proof. Dipper rolled his eyes; go figure…

"I'm a demon; I have no sense of sarcasm." Keehnesi retorted.

"I sense sarcasm in this phrase" Daniel murmured.

"Can we just go, please?" Asaph asked. And then their little "journey" continued, but it left Dipper thinking… What had happened? Why were all of those strange dreams haunting him? What were they trying to tell him? Why him, out of all people? Why _only_ him?! But the thing that really got him was that he was awake the whole time – it was like he had awoken from a trance, which meant he hadn't slept at all. _Just like what happens when Bill doesn't use the mindscape_, Dipper noted.

"Danna, stop singing this" An annoyed Asaph said, when Danna started singing a random song in a random language. Even Dipper had to admit it was annoying.

"C'mon, Aph, you like it – don't deny." Danna pointed out with a smirk.

"Do you even know what it talks about?" Asaph rolled his eyes when Danna shrugged. He leaned against her ear and whispered something in her ear. Danna's eyes widened and her lips curved into a smile as she started to literally shout the song's lyrics for God and the world to hear, causing Daniel to spin on his heels and shoot her a glare. Beatrice rolled her eyes while murmuring something amongst the lines 'fuck my immortal life'; all of this while Asaph had a "fuck, what have I just done?" face. Dipper sighed.

_I'm **so** starting to regret this…_

**_. . ._**

"He's been acting really strange lately…"

That was what Ann had said after closing her notebook. Asaph had been acting very strange for the past few days. He had always been an anti-social kid, burying his face deep in books and encyclopedias, and even using thick glasses: a completely stereotypical nerd; that is, until a few months before all of this. One day, Asaph entered the house with two red-haired kids, apparently twins – one boy and one girl.

Soon enough, Asaph started hanging out with them and going out alone; Ann had once doubted Asaph would _ever _leave the house for once. Ann had to admit that Summerfield wasn't exactly the most _exciting_ place ever; she really didn't like living there, or at least not for the first weeks, but she began getting used to it. Asaph had already adapted to the place, for its calmness and the library. The nearest town wasn't really any different; Gravity Falls was just as calm and boring as Summerfield.

However, that was just what Ann had _thought_.

To go from Summerfield to Gravity Falls, and vice-versa, you had two options: a calm road, or a dreadful forest. Most people who actually want to live go throughout the road, usually to visit friends and acquaintances.

_Why do **I**, out of all people, care?!_

Ann didn't know. She had a deep hatred for Asaph and his mother; for Asaph's whole family side, to be precise. She had stolen her father from her mother; Ann hated them both for this, but after their parents died nothing had ever been the same. Ann, now an 18-year-old, was legally Asaph's guardian, which meant she could do anything she wanted with him. But, why didn't she feel like it? Why did she feel like torturing him was more of an obligation than an actual hobby?

"No," said Ann between gritted teeth. "I hate him… he'll never be my brother…"

But perhaps she could be wrong.

**_. . ._**

"Here we are: the Nightmare Realm"

Dipper immediately looked up upon hearing those words that he was so eager to hear. They were in front of a white wall. The apprentices blinked; there was nothing there but a wall – that apparently had no ending, extending to both sides and seemingly turning around at a certain point, forming a circle. Everybody stopped staring at the wall to stare at the mentors, trying to read their minds and see if this was some kind of prank, but they were as serious as ever. "Pardon me, mentor Keehnesi, but what is that?" Asaph said with a serious face.

Keehnesi rolled his eyes at them, "It's a wall." _Well, no shit_, everybody thought. "And this wall is the main border between the human and demon world. Humans won't be able to pass, and, if they try, the wall will feel like an iron wall. To half-demons, it feels like pudding or water, depending on how far your genetics go. To pure-blooded demons, it feels like air." Everybody stared at him again, knowing that explanation was somewhat unnecessary. But, did that mean they still weren't in the Nightmare Realm? Dipper was really confused at this.

"In case you are wondering, hell and the Nightmare Realm aren't really the same thing. We're in hell right now, or most likely a part of it. The true Nightmare Realm is inside that wall." Everybody stared harder at him.

"What are you waiting for?" Danna, eager to do something ever since she saw the boring white wall, grabbed a pebble near her and threw it on the wall. Everybody's eyes widened when the pebble actually _bounced back_, barely hit Daniel's face (he dodged it), who let a not-so-manly scream, and passed right through Bill's body. _Why did it bounce back? Hold on… oh, a pebble isn't a demon. It's not even sentient. But, does that mean that whoever tries to charge against the wall will bounce back too? _Dipper questioned himself.

"… Awesome! Let's do it again!" Danna shouted as she was preparing to get another pebble, when Asaph charged against her and both fell against the wall, passing right through it.

"Holy crap, this works!" Daniel cursed silently.

"GUYS, COME ON!" They heard Danna – unnecessarily – shout loudly from across the wall. "YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS! IT'S SO AWESOME I ALMOST SHIT MY PANTS WHEN I SAW IT!" Dipper was trying not to face-palm or even laugh at this, and Daniel would've face-desked if there was a desk to hit his head with. Bill was laughing soundly, while Beatrice and Keehnesi had a poker face – well, it seemed like that to the apprentices; since they don't have mouths in their demon forms.

"Danna, there's something amazing called _indoor voice_; learn how to use it" Daniel scolded. "We can hear you just fine."

"GOOD!" She shouted back. _Double_ face-palm.

Dipper stepped in front of the wall and took a deep breath; would it hurt? Would it tickle? It was definitely going to be like one of those Harry Potter movies where they go through a wall and end up on another place; perhaps they would end up on a train station…? No, no… Hell should be a frightening place, why would they ever have a train station? Also, demons can just teleport at their will – they wouldn't need something like this.

Closing his eyes, Dipper extended his hand and passed it through the portal. The sensation was that his hand was going through half-frozen water. How strange… but the sensation wasn't that bad. Perhaps this wasn't going to be so bad after all…

"AHH!" Dipper shouted when he was pulled through the wall. The first thing that came to his mind was that he was being kidnapped or something, and he slightly panicked with the thought – especially because this was hell, anything could happen –, but when he fully went through the wall, falling on his back and landing on soft grass, it was revealed that it was Danna who had pulled his hand and she was visibly laughing at him. Dipper blushed and tried to hide it. "Um, that shout was intentional!" He lied.

"Pfft, of course." Danna said, waving her hand dismissively.

Soon enough, Daniel went through the wall with his eyes closed – waiting for any impact or physical and mental damage – while the mentors followed behind. Two of them were actually serious about this while the one left seemed slightly amused. Dipper could understand why, though: if you tried to throw a pebble through the border of Gravity Falls and Summerfield, it wouldn't kick back. However, that was neither Gravity Falls _nor _Summerfield.

When he turned around, however, Dipper could perfectly understand why Danna was so surprised. The place they – the group of apprentice plus their mentors – were facing was literally a perfect copy of Dubai, just two times better. There were skyscrapers everywhere, plus tall buildings and lots of high-tech stores – too much for even Asaph to count; perhaps _this_ is why he had been quiet all this time.

There was a gigantic hospital nearby. _Why do demons need a hospital?! _Dipper questioned himself in his mind, but couldn't answer his own question. _"I'll tell you later, sapling"_, was the answer he received; obviously from Bill. Dipper bit his lip, trying to accept that his mind wasn't safe from Bill, or any other Cipher, with regret hitting him hard. Bill had done that before – entering his mind without his consent and doing things that would probably scar him for eternity… Could that count as mind rape?

… Maybe…?

Why did he feel so bad about this? More importantly, why did he feel so _happy _about this as well? He felt so, so confused. He analyzed the Nightmare Realm more deeply.

There were demons going around – all types of demons in all of shapes, and some shapes that he couldn't really describe without having to draw or invent words. But the awkward thing was that some of them were in their "human forms"; Dipper could see some "children" playing around with a human-shaped doll – and "playing" means pretending to torture the doll with violet, green and scarlet red flames like it was a living creature; Dipper unwillingly quivered.

The sky was of a clear baby-blue color and there were very few clouds, and the weather was pleasant. The grass that completely covered the floor – there was _zero pavement _– was of a very green color that Dipper had only seen in the computer screen, with the sweet smell of lavender. It would have been a very beautiful landscape if there weren't demons roaming around. As soon as Dipper noticed that, the mentors snapped their fingers and switched into their human forms, startling Daniel, who was the closest to them.

"Alright, let's go." Keehnesi said as he began walking towards a gigantic manor that was at the end of the "city". Dipper analyzed it better, and found out it wasn't a manor. It was a castle.

**_. . ._**

"Hey" Danna complained two minutes after they started walking. Asaph, Daniel and Dipper were ready to groan. "Aren't you gonna give us a tour? I mean, I was expecting more chaos and people screaming everywhere! This place is better than New York! Where's the free tour?" She whined.

"What do you think this is? Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory? We don't have time for _tours_. We have… more urgent matters to attend to." Beatrice said sternly. Danna pouted, but shut her mouth – thankfully. While walking, a demon in their human form ran into Dipper as both were shoved onto the floor by the impact. Dipper was expecting the impact to hurt, but – surprisingly – it didn't. After opening his eyes, they landed exactly on the girl that hit him. Their eyes met.

She was a very skinny, with a dark skin color and black, short curly hair tied in a poorly-made bun. She was wearing a white tank top and black shorts. Her eyes were of a very dark brown color, almost black. She seemed to be around the same age as Dipper. Upon noticing that they were staring at each other, she blushed. "I'm so, so sorry. Sorry!" She apologized in a small voice before standing up and hesitantly extending her hand to Dipper. He gladly accepted the help.

"It's ok" Dipper said, rubbing the back of his head. "It was kind of my fault, too…" Actually, it wasn't, but he just wanted to make the girl feel better. She nodded with a small smile. Asaph looked around and noticed that Dipper was gone; he spun on his heels and saw Dipper talking to a girl. He began walking towards them, carefully checking his surroundings. Everything was new to him – he wanted to notice every detail that came across his eyesight.

"Um, my name is Maria…" The girl began, with a thick Scottish accent, but was interrupted by Asaph.

"Dipper, you're going to get lost" He said in an emotionless tone, like he didn't even care. Why did he have to act like he didn't give a shit to anything? Perhaps it was just his way of living, but… why? That was what he wanted to know. _Because, once you stablish a personality for yourself, you can't change… can you? _Asaph thought bitterly, almost sure that he was contradicting himself.

"It's ok… I'll catch up with you guys later." Dipper assured.

"If you say so…" Asaph then turned around and began to follow the mentors and the two amazed twins to the giant castle at the end of the "town". Dipper turned around and, behind Maria, was running a girl with straight blonde hair and large bangs that covered her forehead, blue eyes, pale skin and quite chubby – quite the opposite of Maria. Everything indicated she was older than Maria. She turned around and saw the girl running after her. She looked shocked.

"Silvana… I told her not to follow me…" She murmured. Dipper looked at her, then at the blonde. _Silvana… Is that her name? _And, just after Dipper thought that, 'Silvana' stopped and tried to catch her breath. Dipper and Maria just stared at her when she raised a finger, as if saying 'just hang on a second. Let me recover all the lost oxygen I lost while running'. "Silvana, are you ok…?" Maria asked carefully, extending her hand to touch Silvana, but she just slapped her hand away after recovering herself.

"It's _Gazelle_, Mari!" Silvana – or Gazelle – scolded in a British accent.

"S-sorry…" Maria looked down in shame. Dipper looked at Silvana.

"So, um… who are you two? Are you dream-demons… or something?" He asked carefully. If they were demons, what he was really starting to doubt, that meant they were dangerous, especially if they were full-blooded ones. He was just _half _a demon – which he really wanted not to be true, but the wall/border he crossed had already given him enough proof that he was one of (he slightly shuddered at the thought) Bill's kind. If he was only a half dream-demon, that meant he couldn't fight a fully-developed demon, even in the form of a shy girl and a fat one.

"Not really. This sapling here is my adoptive sister, Maria; and I'm Silvana, but I'd rather be called Gazelle. You can clearly see we're kind of different from each other. And, well, we're half demons too, and apprentices, like you, but we're actually cosmos-demons instead of dream-demons." Gazelle explained.

"Did… Did you just say 'cosmos-demons'?" Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow. He'd already heard that there were other types of demons around, such as forest-demons that were supposed to freak the hunters out of their wits and take care of the animals, while the angels took care of the fauna and any natural threats – from what he remembered (and made sure to remember). Gazelle and Maria exchanged glances, mentally deciding who should explain it this time – and so, Maria sighed. It was her turn now.

"W-well…" Maria began speaking in a small tone, clearing her throat. "The dream-demons take care of humans' minds and dreams; forest-demons take care of animals and hunters. We, cosmos-demons, take care of the universe to make sure everything is in order, and most of the time to cause some chaos as well. But, I don't really like to cause chaos—" Maria was interrupted by Gazelle.

"Oh, I love causing chaos! Normal humans' reactions are _so_ funny when they think a meteor is going to hit Earth!" She laughed, and stopped after some seconds. "What a shame, our powers aren't strong enough to cause an actual Armageddon. Tough shit, this is." She shrugged. Suddenly they turned around and saw a demon in the shape of a flower staring at them. "Well, we gotta go now. See ya', uh…"

"Dipper" He answered with a smile. "Dipper Pines"

"Yeah, right" Gazelle answered.

"Oh, wait!" Dipper called, just when both were about to go away.

"What is it now?" Gazelle groaned.

"Um… Why are you called _Gazelle_, exactly?" He asked calmly.

She said nothing for a while, and both Dipper and Maria thought she wasn't going to answer, but, surprisingly, Gazelle lifted her bangs, without uttering a sound, and revealing six black dots across her forehead, all of them in perfect symmetry, one pair for each – two dots for each one, making them three pairs. Dipper immediately understood that this was the same as his case; the 'case of The Big Dipper'.

The Three Leaps of Gazelle.

**_. . ._**

_"Hello?"_

_Dipper looked around. He was inside a dark room with no furniture; there were four mirrors hanging on each wall, looking as old as time itself. He could hardly see, and, to make things worse, the place was very cold, and he only had his t-shirt, shorts and socks on. There were two flights of wooden-made stairs in front of him, and it seemed as if they were about to fall apart. Dipper shivered from the cold and the sensation that something was wrong. Why did this have to happen every time? _

_Couldn't he have peace for once?_

_He began walking forward, until he stepped on something. Looking down, Dipper saw a piece of paper on the floor. There was something written in it, and even in the dark, he could clearly see the letters. Dipper bit his lip; did he really want to read it? Should he stay like this and wait until he woke up in the morning? Maybe he should do the latter, right? But Dipper just couldn't resist; he had to read the paper… Focusing on it, Dipper noted how the letters were blurry, but still readable._

**_Ỳ̴͠Ǫ̸Ú̵͠'̴͞R̵̢̧͘͞Ę ̧͜͞Ǹ̵̸͟͝Ǫ_****_҉_****_͡T̵͢_****_҉_****_̢́ ͜͏͟A̧̕͝L̷͠O͠͞_****_҉҉_****_N͞_****_҉_****_̵E͢͠.͘͜͏_**

**_. . ._**

Ann Collins hated Asaph Horth. She hated him with every fiber of her body, didn't she?

When she heard that her father, Joseph Collins, was marrying a woman whom she had never heard of before – and even worse: she had a son – Ann felt infuriated. How could her father betray her mother like that? Oh, her mother… Ayleen Jenkins was simply the best woman in the world; the best cook, the best storyteller, the best teacher, and the best mother. Ann's world fell apart when she was diagnosed with cancer. A few years later, Ayleen died.

It was the worst day of Ann's life.

The second worst day of Ann's life was when, a few days later, Joseph found another woman, Alma Horth, whom had a small child, Asaph Horth, no older than nine at the time, while Ann was then a fifteen-year-old teenager. She hated Asaph the moment she laid eyes on him. He was a shy kid; almost never talked and was barely heard – she began to believe he was mute until she heard him reading out loud an entire encyclopedia. _What a nerd_, she thought at the time.

Asaph's grades were impeccable. There were A+s, A-s and B+s, but none of his grades were under B+. Joseph thought he was the perfect child, even better than Ann, but that was just because of his amazing job at school. Asaph had no friends; nobody would hang out with him, and he was perfectly fine with this. "I have my books. I don't need anyone else" He said. Ann always thought Asaph was a strange child, but hearing him say that he didn't need friends was just so wrong and odd…

Asaph was perhaps the creepiest kid she had ever met, honestly. He was blunt, emotionless, lacked empathy and acted like a robot. She always thought all kids were cheerful, loud and annoying, but Asaph seemed to be an exception. He was always seen reading a book – really complex books, like _War and Peace _by Leo Tolstoy – or writing and drawing, but not even once he had talked to anybody other than her, Joseph or Alma.

After one year, Joseph married Alma, and Ann was forced to go to the wedding. For some reason, they never really acted romantically or anything – and never kissed, not even once. Ann found that really strange, but didn't dare to talk about it. A few months later, her name changed to Ann Horth Collins, and she _so_ hated her name. After that, everything returned to normal. Or so she thought.

And then it happened.

During their summer vacations, Asaph began to act stranger than he actually did before. The first signal of "strangeness" was when he started talking to the nothing, like he was having a conversation with a real person. Asaph was too old to have an imaginary friend, and even he agreed – "imaginary friends are for people who don't have anything better to do." He stated emotionlessly when she confronted him about it. And that was exactly where the problem starts.

Asaph never had any reason to start having imaginary friends, and he certainly couldn't see ghosts, seeing as he never believed in any paranormal activities. Ann knew something, though: if, in a crowded room, everybody (in that room) ever saw something move by itself, Asaph would be the first to run. Even though he was emotionless like a statue, he still had weaknesses, two of them being his social-awkwardness and fear of paranormal creatures.

Then why did he start acting so strange?

When Ann turned 18, Asaph's parents decided to take a 12-year-old Asaph to a camping trip for a few days, giving Ann plenty of time all by herself and permission to do whatever she wanted – as long as she didn't cause any chaos around the town or destroyed the house –, which she was planning to enjoy with a few friends in a sleepover. Two days later, she received a call from the police: her parents had died from unknown circumstances and Asaph, who was the only witness, refused to tell how they died; apparently, the police thought the kid was mentally scarred. But he wasn't.

Asaph refused to talk because he knew they wouldn't understand.

That was when Asaph began to search for books and information about paranormal creatures in Gravity Falls' library, since Summerfield didn't have one. He began working at part-time jobs and, when he had enough money, bought a thick notebook and began writing as much information as he could about everything that caught his eye. He even bought a book about myths called _Myths and facts: the door to the unknown_; a book that Ann tried reading but then gave up after a few paragraphs of the first page.

Then, one day, he arrives with two children around his age: one boy and one girl, both identical in appearance – the most noticeable features were their red hair and green eyes. After meeting them, Danna and Daniel – apparently that was their names – Asaph began to talk more, be more social and even cracked some jokes, though it was rare. It's not like Ann was spying on him, of course not (where did you get that idea?), but sometimes, as Asaph's legal guardian, she had to make sure he wasn't… well, killing anyone.

Though Asaph still kept some of his old characteristics, the emotionlessness wasn't one of them anymore – he was still the same walking Wikipedia of always, but now he was friendlier, more active... Ann still hated him. He would never be her brother. After all, that was why she made a 'punishment room' if he disobeyed her, right? She even wrote something to scare him: _"All play and no work makes Asaph a lazy boy." _Asaph, being the "young rebel" (as Ann liked to call him) he was, never seemed to mind that; that was, until one thing happened.

The day a red X made of his own blood appeared under the writing.

**_. . ._**

"Here we are; the castle." Beatrice announced, trying to hide the anger in her voice.

Just as he said, Dipper managed to catch up with the group just in time to hear Beatrice's statement. After she said that, the trio of dream-demons snapped their fingers and turned into their human forms, but they were slightly different than before. Bill had now a longer hair that went until the end of his back, tied in a ponytail. The same thing happened with Keehnesi, but he didn't have his hair tied in a ponytail like Bill. Beatrice's hair was long enough for her to be misunderstood as a blue-haired version of Rapunzel, tied in numerous golden hair elastics. Their clothes remained the same as ever.

"Whoa! You guys just turned into Super-Sayajins or something?!" Danna asked excitedly. Beatrice sighed.

"This is our human form in the Nightmare Realm. It changes accordingly to contain our power, which becomes stronger when we enter in this realm. This also happens to you, but since you're younger than us, and have only half of our power, you don't need this kind of transformation, though your powers will increase as well; not as much as ours, but I'm sure you can understand what I'm saying. If we didn't have this transformation, our powers would stay out of control and we'd most likely cause havoc." Keehnesi explained.

All of the apprentices stared at him, and their eyes read _'please sum this up'_.

"Let's just end this, okay?" Beatrice pleaded. Soon they passed through a bridge that lead to the castle, with a purple river under it, and when they did, the first thing the group encounters is a pair of demons at each side of the main door that led them to inside the castle; both of them were of a pitch-black color and had a strange, unsettling shape that was always changing for some reason. Their eyes were small red circles, and their gaze was enough to guarantee the apprentices a few nights of nightmares. They were holding metal sticks; or at least that was what they looked like.

"They're the castle's guards; they are an unknown type of demon that pledge their loyalty to their leader. Their appearance keeps intruders away. You don't want to know what they do to your mind if they catch you." Dipper shuddered in disturb. He already had one experience with unsettling nightmares; he didn't need another one.

The demons shifted their gaze to the mentors and hit the floor with their sticks, creating a black wave around the castle that made the apprentices shudder when it passed through them. After the command, the door opened itself right after, allowing the mentors and apprentices to pass. The mentors began to walk towards the door. "Don't look at them directly in the eye." Bill warned, before any of the apprentices could move.

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"Want to try it and find out?" Beatrice suggested with a mocking smile.

"Thanks, but no, thanks. I like my soul." He answered.

"Good for you" Keehnesi replied sarcastically.

"_I'm a demon; I have no sense of sarcasm_" Asaph mimicked him mockingly. Keehnesi just rolled his eyes but a small smile formed on his lips.

**_. . ._**

Just as the group arrived at a large room with crystal-made walls that shone with the light from outside, reflecting their appearances in a funny and distorted way, the mentors stopped walking, and so they stood at the middle of the room. Dipper looked around more; under him, there was a red carpet that extended itself to the whole room and had undecipherable codes on it – each one more complex than the previous. There were four pillars made of marble on each corner of the room, filled with the same codes Dipper had seen on the carpet.

Two blood red chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and their sharp edges made them look even more threatening. There were three gigantic medieval windows, all of them in one wall except for the one where the exit is, showering the room with light. Dipper looks up and sees a throne at the end of the room, with a shadowy figure sitting on it. With its blood red eyes and body completely covered in shadows, in the shape of a human being – but not quite one – the creature was quite scary and threatening. Dipper felt a shiver just by looking at it.

The three mentors stepped forward with their apprentices behind them, hiding and left to stare at the horrifying creature in front of them. It opened its mouth to speak, and its voice was of a normal human being, with no alterations, but the calmness in its voice left the apprentices and mentors in anxiety.

"**Well, well, well. What do we have here?**" It asked itself in a strong, mocking voice that echoed through the room. "**Seems like we have visits, don't we? What a surprise!**" Beatrice's eye twitched with the voice and was trying her best not to snap at him. The creature then looked at the children behind the mentors. "**Oh, and you've brought children as well. Halflings, I presume?**" The mentors didn't answer. Instead, they just stepped behind in a protective manner to prevent their apprentices from harm. "**You've become quite shy from the last time I've seen you, Ciphers.**"

"No, we've just become more aware of your true nature, Lucifer." Keehnesi replied. Dipper's eyes widened. _Lucifer?! That's the devil?! _He thought to himself, the question dancing in his tongue, eager to be asked, but he kept quiet, just listening to the conversation. He knew he shouldn't ask questions, especially now. Dipper, unlike Mabel, knew when he should be quiet – his mind practically screamed 'shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!'

"**Oh, I see. I know I'm not trustful enough for you, Ciphers. I know when I'm not wanted, but now you're on my territory, you see.**" Lucifer said with in a mocking and confident tone. Neither Dipper nor the other apprentices thought the devil would be so… calm… like this. "**So, as my hosts, it's my duty to make sure you feel at _home _and obey my _rules_. I suppose you remember what happened last time, don't you?**"

"I see… However, we come for a reason. Not just to play another of your stupid mind games." Bill said with a poker face.

"**Well, before you explain yourselves, as well as the children behind you, I must say: it's nice to see you again.**" Lucifer said; if it had a mouth, Dipper didn't know, but he could feel its grin upon them. Perhaps this was the punishment for all of his sins. If hell was like that, he didn't want to live there anymore; did he ever want to before? Maybe, but not anymore. Lucifer ruled hell, and Lucifer was scary as fuck. Beatrice scowled at it, but then sneered:

"I'm afraid we can't say the same, father."

* * *

**A/N: Welcome to _Casos de Familia_, people.**

**I think this has become a mexican novel with so much plot twists XD but anyhow, yeah, I was gone for a while! HOWEVER I've written a hella big chapter to make up for all that time lost. Yes, Lucifer is the devil. As an agnostic, I'm not afraid to write this. Sorry, christians, if you're offended, then you're in the wrong fanfic. YES, the last chapter of the arc "Fallen Royalty"! Now moving onto the arc "Forgotten Princes"! Thanks, Silver Goldentime, for helping me with the arc title. Whew, 5880 words! Ok, onto the (hell lots of) questions:**

**(1) Did the song make any sense with the chapter? No? Ok T . T  
(2) 'I'm a demon, I have no sense of sarcasm'?  
(3) Ummm, Ann and Asaph character development?  
(4) Did you like that I made a part of Asaph's backstory? You hated it? Give your opinions, people.  
(5) Gazelle and Maria? Oh, what could that be~?  
(6) LUCIFER?!  
(7) Plot twist! Were you expecting that?! (I bet you were XD)  
(8) What do you think happened 'last time' eh?  
(9) SO, was that chapter long enough for you?**

**Anyway, this is all for now. OH, and before I forget: THANKS FOR 44,700 VIEWS, PEOPLE! YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME I JUST WANNA TRACK YOUR IDS AND GO TO YOUR HOUSES AND KIDNAP YOU ALL FOR MYSELF :3 jk, I'd never do that (maybe). THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	30. Episode 30

**Episode 30: Royal Disasters [part 1].  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**_. . . _**

_"Take advantage of what you deny […].  
Don't pretend that you're better than this  
Malevolence goes both ways"_

_— Blue Stahli, Ultranumb._

**_. . . _**

_"Father"_

Such a simple word was enough to make the apprentices' breaths hitch, especially Dipper's. Why was he surprised, though? He once told himself that if Bill was related to the devil in some way, he wouldn't be surprised. Why was he, then? Lucifer was his mentor's father, and was standing in front of him. To say bluntly, Lucifer was a… thing. Not even close to a human. It had a human shape, but… it wasn't human. Dipper knew how humans acted, how he felt around them, and he definitely didn't feel the same near Lucifer. Dipper gulped – he wasn't human himself, after all; he was just some demon hybrid. Oh, how he wish he hadn't found that out.

"**Oh, I see.**" Lucifer replied. "**My dear daughter Beatricelenne, you've grown since the last time I saw you.**" Beatrice visibly shivered at the mention of her true name. Bill and Keehnesi rolled their eyes at that. Lucifer directed its gaze to them. "**Billius, Bartholomewilus, it seems like you have also changed the last time I've seen you. You look more grown-up, Billius, though I doubt you have mentally changed.**" Bill crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks. Everybody raised an eyebrow; who was 'Bartholomewilus'?

"_Lucifer_" Keehnesi warned. "If you're trying to pull another mind game on us, I swear I–"

"**Bartholomewilus**" Lucifer interrupted in such a serious tone that it sent shivers down the apprentices' spines. "**I suppose you don't remember what happened last time you've stepped onto this room, and I also suppose you wouldn't want to, but my memory rarely ever fails me.**" Keehnesi was taken aback by this, but didn't back off. Instead, he hit his foot on the floor and a pink shield rose around him in a circular shape, surrounding all of the mentors and apprentices. There were small squares incrusted around the shield as a decoration. Danna was the first to react and, without any warning, punched the shield.

"Dude, that thing's real strong! Oh, and I think I broke my hand, by the way." She said simply. Daniel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"**Beatricelenne**" Lucifer uttered, and Beatrice's hands turned into fists as she controlled her wish to punch the demon lord in the face – if there was one. "**I can feel your anger from here, even with you brother's shield to protect you and mask your true sentiments. Do you resent me?**" Asaph blinked and turned to face the twins' mentor. It was downright obvious she was keeping her anger and resentment for Lucifer to herself. _That doesn't sound healthy_, he thought. _And what is that shield? Lucifer said it can mask emotions… _What Lucifer didn't tell him was that he could also read minds like the mentors – perhaps that was a little too obvious and intrusive.

"**Exactly, little hybrid Asaph Horth**" Asaph tensed upon hearing his full name being said – by a demon lord, no less. Keehnesi also seemed to tense up. His apprentice took a step forward, almost touching the barrier that separated them from Lucifer, but the gravity around him vanished as he slowly floated away from the floor. Keehnesi's eyes were shining in a radiating pink aura, and so was Asaph's body; his mentor had just used telekinesis. "**Oh, my _dear _son, I wouldn't dare harm your little meat sack. I have no use for him in any way.**"

"I don't trust you" Keehnesi snarled. Nobody had ever seen him lose his patience that easily, which made all of the apprentices realize they were messing with a serious business.

"ENOUGH!" Danna shouted. Then she directed her attention to Lucifer. "Okay, I don't understand shit! First, we were going nicely, then you guys start arguing with the devil, and then— then― I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. Carry on." She waved her hand dismissively and sat on the floor, crossing her arms and leaning against the barrier. Bill just rolled his eyes with a serious glare that Dipper never thought he'd see. He was sure of one thing, however: serious Bill gave him more chills than crazy Bill would do.

"Mentor Keehnesi, I'd like to say that I really enjoy gravity doing its job to keep me from floating to outer space and dying from the lack of oxygen and supplies, but gravity is not doing its job right now." Asaph deadpanned, still levitating thanks to Keehnesi's telekinesis. The mentor understood the sarcasm and slowly lowered Asaph down, until he safely reached the floor. Dipper blinked and resisted the urge to pinch himself and check if he was still dreaming and that the cause of all of that was the pizza he had eaten before he went to sleep. "Thank you."

His mentor, however, just sighed.

"I think an explanation is in order."

**_. . ._**

Mabel stared at the prism in her hands, unsure of what to do. Candy and Grenda were by her side as they stared in awe at the hole on the tree that she had just caused, smoke still present and invading the air with its unpleasable scent. It had all started with a stroll near the forest when Mabel got a little too excited about a story that talked about her tenth birthday and, upon jumping up to cheer about something that involved a prank, lots of glitter and a spicy cake, an explosion happened nearby, exactly in the minute she raised her hands in the air.

One of the trees had just suffered a spontaneous combustion – or perhaps it wasn't spontaneous at all. Mabel didn't want to believe _she _did that. She loved trees! She would never hurt them! Well, maybe that time when she accidentally put four of them on fire because of a talking fish and four angry barf fairies – long story – so, in shock, she dropped the prism on the floor and Gompers, the goat, who just happened to be there, began chewing on the chain. "Who votes on blaming the goat?" She asked with a bright smile plastered on her face, upon getting over the fact she just exploded a tree.

Still in shock, Candy and Grenda raised their hands.

**_. . ._**

"Alright," Beatrice sighed. "We're Lucifer's… _relatives_." She refused to call herself its child. "And, although it is immortal, it needs descendants so it created us with a piece of its soul. Obviously, it was going to create only one spawn – the typical perfect one – but the thing backfired because Lucifer is an idiot that doesn't know how to do things right, and created three, not one, so each of us has a quality that it was going to put on its 'oh so perfect' spawn." Keehnesi nodded. Lucifer said nothing; it didn't interfere; it just listened quietly and with a barely noticeable smirk on its 'face'.

"For an example, I was born with omniscience" He said. _That explains a lot_, the apprentices thought.

"I was born with omnipresence" Bill followed. Perhaps that was the most obvious explanation to why he knew 'lots of things'.

"And I was born with omnipotence" Beatrice finished the chain. "However, our powers were only truly valid within the Nightmare Realm, so we knew very little about the outside world – Keehnesi knew many things, but not all of them; Bill could see lots of things at the same time, but not all of them; I could do lots of things, but not all of them. We grew up within these walls, training until we were strong enough to be able to battle along our race." She sighed and leaned against the barrier that Keehnesi had created. Dipper didn't know what to say; he'd heard so much about princes and curses and everything else, it was giving him a headache – but that also made him eager to listen even more. Danna and Daniel were outright confused and had many questions, but decided to keep them to themselves.

Asaph couldn't help it.

"What do you mean 'battle along our race'?" He raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean a war?" Beatrice smirked at him.

"Yes" She said. "I can't tell when, exactly, but a long time ago, a war started – if you want to know why, ask the devil." She pointed to Lucifer. And, again, Asaph couldn't help it. _The feeling of asking the devil about how a war in hell started is thrilling, to say the least,_ thought Asaph, as he bit his lip. He knew he couldn't trust the devil, and that it was deceiving. Lucifer, Beatrice, Keehnesi, Bill… all of them, none of them. Could he rely on them? Could he trust them? _Should_ he trust them? And so, he only uttered one word:

"Why?"

"**Power**" Lucifer said simply. "**The demons from my guard wanted to take over and rule the Nightmare Realm. Hell soon broke loose and got divided in two. You were either with me, or against me. Most of the realm was against me, and that was their main mistake. When you're against me in a war—**" Lucifer extended its hand and used its telekinesis to levitate a hand-made looking jar from its position to before the mentors and apprentices, and ending the jar completely with a powerful black beam coming from its hand. The rest of the beam collided with Keehnesi's shield and exploded, sending black and white sparks to all directions and creating a cloud of smoke that filled the air. "**—_you're dead_.**"

"Thanks for the reminder that I'm in front of the devil. Goodbye, people." Danna deadpanned and was about to snap her fingers to teleport but a blue aura surrounded her and she was lifted from the ground. "Hey!" She yelped.

"You're staying here, kiddo. I won't be responsible for any deaths today." Bill said as his eyes glowed in a bright blue color. _What's with all the overprotectiveness? Goddammit_, Danna thought as she rolled her eyes before Bill's eyes returned to their normal color (which was yellow) and she fell face-first to the floor. Danna never stood up. "At least she's unconscious" Bill commented while shrugging.

"Or dead" Beatrice deadpanned.

"**We should not avoid the subject now**" Lucifer interrupted, seemingly clearing its throat. "**When the war was over, half of the population was dead and one fourth was exiled. I did my best to fix everything and prove that I was their supreme leader and no one else, to stop another revolution and prevent more deaths from happening. However, the more my spawns grew, the more rebellious they would become.**" It glared at Beatrice.

That was when hell broke loose.

"Rebellious? Rebellious?! Stop trying to victimize yourself!" She screamed in fury, with her color changing from baby-blue to a very dark orange; it was just like Bill – when he got angry, he switched from yellow to red – but apparently her fit was twice as worse, with Beatrice's voice booming through the halls and inside the barrier, making the apprentices flinch, and Keehnesi and Bill winced slightly. "I was born first, and always did everything better than my brothers! I tried to be perfect – more than them; more than you ever were! And yet, just because I'm a female, I can't take the fucking throne?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Every word that Beatrice said gave Dipper more reasons to dislike Lucifer – the words didn't seem to be lies; Beatrice told the inevitable truth. That was why she had such a strong hatred towards it. Dipper bit his lower lip and tried to avoid the glare Lucifer was giving to Beatrice – which counter-attacked with the same glare – at all costs, so he looked around. Then he noticed something: the barrier cracked. _She did this?! _He thought, panicking.

That barrier was the only thing that could most likely protect them from Lucifer's wrath, and now it was breaking. But what Dipper didn't know was that Beatrice's voice was never going to be enough to break a shield as strong as Keehnesi's. No, it wasn't Beatrice who broke the shield. _Magical demonic shields are affected by their creators' thoughts and feelings, with the effort that supports them and keeps them from breaking apart being their mental stabilities, which means… _Asaph narrated in his mind, remembering the phrase coming from his myths book, and analyzing the cracks better.

They were pretty violent. One touch could easily break the whole shield apart. Asaph narrowed his eyes and tried to remember the rest of the phrase. _…Which means that if a demon is mentally perturbed or unstable, their shield could tear down or have violent cracks, according to how violently their creator's reactions and emotions have affected them mentally_, Asaph finished the thought, and then it hit him.

The shield didn't break because Beatrice broke it.

The shield broke because Keehnesi broke.

* * *

**A/N: Late chapter is late XD**

**Anyway, sorry for the late chapter, but my mom turned off the internet and I've been having too much homework, and my tests are killing me. I got a 3,0 in math. A 3,0. That's, like, a D-F of some sorts, I dunno how this works. Anyway, family drama, the usual. I decided to call Lucifer an 'it' because I haven't established a gender, though the mentors call him 'father'. It took me all my will not to write 'he' instead of 'it'. Also, I'm writing the second chapter of Child of Cipher, though I don't know when I'll post it. Anyway, the questions!**

**(1) 'Royal Disasters'? Oh no, what to expect from this title?  
(2) Does the song reference make sense now? (please tell me it does XD)  
(3) Billius? Beatricelenne? BARTHOLOMEWILUS? (you can laugh now)  
(4) We meet Lucifer! What's your reaction?  
(5) Why did Keehnesi break?  
(6) Do you vote on blaming the goat?**

**Aaaaand that's it. It's kind of a short chapter because I needed to finish it. Please forgive me, I took almost two months to finish this. I'd like to thank you guys for the 202 comments! Also, newsflash: I'm addicted to Miraculous Ladybug because I'm a childish person who fangirls over Marinette and Adrien (I want to marry them both XD), but my sympathy for Adrien is bigger because he is _SO _goddamn much interesting than Mari, and he's really cute (not as in attractive, but, like, cute like adorable), and I also hate [spoilers] Volpina/Lila like the rest of you (she's ugly as fuck, honestly). People keep saying that Gabriel is Hawk Moth, but my theory beats them all. Here is my theory:**

**... ... ... Marinette is Hawk Moth (~LE GASP). The end? :3 I need some sleeping pills SMH.  
**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	31. Episode 31

**Episode 31: Royal Disasters [part 2].  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**_. . . _**

_"You don't know how you've betrayed me, […]  
You're not real and you can't save me,  
Somehow now you're everybody's fool."_

_— Evanescence, Everybody's Fool._

**_. . . _**

Keehnesi broke; so did the shield.  
And he was laughing.

_It's not like somebody would laugh in real life_, Daniel thought, gulping; _he sounds like a madman who has just entered an asylum_; and he was right. Keehnesi was not laughing like a normal person when somebody told them a joke; he was laughing of madness, pure madness that consumed his very soul and broke their shield. And suddenly Dipper realized something: Lucifer was leading them to insanity. Asaph and Daniel also seemed to have realized the same thing. Bill and Beatrice visibly tensed up and seemed to be ready to attack the demon lord if they needed to.

"Rebellious?" Keehnesi said between giggles, like a child who had just been told a very funny joke. "Are you fucking with me, Lucifer? I've done everything that you wanted; I've practiced combat skills, I've practiced politics and I've been submissive and obedient, and you dare to call me and my siblings 'rebellious'. Oh, how great of you to label us for your will. You must feel great about yourself, _daddy_." The pink-themed demon sneered just as the barrier cracked even more. The apprentices (minus Danna, who was unconscious) slowly started walking to the middle of the barrier, trying to protect themselves in case of the shield breaking – which they guessed would be very soon.

"**_Th̡at̸̢̧ ̷o̕l̨͘d͞ ͜͡m̡̨a͏n͟͟͟ ͟ì͞s̡͞ ̕m̛͠a̴k̸i̢͡n̴̵g̵͡͏ ̷a_****_҉_****_ f͢oò͟l̷̸͠ ͜͞o̢͝f͝ ̵̡h͡͡im̡_****_҉_****_͡sè̢l_****_҉_****_f̷́ ͞͠a_****_҉_****_g̶̡a͟í̸n̡._**"

That was the phrase that echoed through Dipper's head, but he knew very well that it wasn't his subconscious. He knew who it was; he didn't want to know; he refused to acknowledge that. It was _it_, the creature of his nightmares. The creature that he made a deal with. Memories of the events flooded his mind and suddenly he felt like a Keehnesi, slowly descending to madness and then shouting at a demon lord twice as powerful as him. However, when Lucifer looked directly at him, Dipper's blood ran cold.

"**Did you say something, boy?**" It asked. Bill pulled Dipper by his wrist and pulled the boy behind him, afraid that something would happen, and Dipper was more than happy to comply, but he was also ashamed. Hiding behind his worst-enemy-now-mentor was probably the most embarrassing thing he had ever done, but he would rather do that than die in the hands of a demon king. "**_ANSWER ME_**" Lucifer shouted. Dipper gaped and tried to say something – anything! – but all that would come was gibberish. In the end, he just shook his head and kept hiding behind Bill.

"**_C̴̡̛̛͜Ơ͡͞͏̶W̴̡͏A͏̵̷̴͢R̸͜D́҉̴̴_**" The voice in his head sung, clearly amused by Dipper's current situation. If glares could kill, Dipper would have already been dead twice over and turned into dust; Lucifer was practically ripping his soul apart with just a glance. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Lucifer turned its head around to stare at the castle's walls, but Dipper felt like he couldn't relax just yet. Daniel noticed how distressed Dipper was and walked over to him.

"We're in hell, Dipper. I think any misstep might get us killed." He commented in a mere whisper, hoping that the demon lord hadn't heard him (which was highly improbable), but seeing as that only made Dipper tense up even more, Daniel tried to make up for his error. "But, uh, we're all in the same situation right now – and the mentors are protecting us. All we gotta do is bite the bullet and pray we make it to dinner." He joked. The last phrase made Dipper chuckle.

"You know what? You're right, we'll be fine." He assured.

Just then, the shield broke apart; pink powder flew everywhere and some got on Dipper, Daniel and Asaph's hair, making it sparkle. Daniel and Dipper exchanged glances. "Just kidding; we won't last long." Daniel deadpanned.

"**Now that we have solved our problems…**" Lucifer says as it stands up and begins to walk towards the mentors and their apprentices (who tensed up). Without a shield to protect them, how would they survive? Dipper and Asaph looked down and noticed the trail of black ink that Lucifer left wherever it went, and that disappeared in a pinch. "**… Why have you come here? I cannot help but notice how much hate you have for me; what could you possibly want?**" It asked.

"We need a favor." Bill said, finally. "We need to stay here for a while; but don't think we're not doing this for us – or for you – it's for our apprentices." Lucifer stopped in front of them, and looked at the four kids who were behind their mentors, seemingly hiding from him. Lucifer knew that if it had feelings, it would probably be laughing right now – without any emotions, its laugh sounded more like a dying animal (which seemed like an advantage if you wanted to distract your foe).

"**Interesting**" Lucifer uttered. It stared at the apprentices. "**Step forward**" It ordered. Asaph, Daniel and Dipper exchanged worried glances; what would they do? Lucifer didn't seem like the patient type; its patience was ticking. "**I said_ step forward_**" it repeated; its voice reverberated throughout the room and peeked through the apprentices' ears like millions of knives, forcing them to wince visibly. Danna immediately shot forward, awakened by the booming voice.

"INNOCENT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed through the room just like Lucifer's; the mentors suppressed a laugh, and the apprentices snickered slightly. "I mean, guilty— no, wait, in— fuck, can I start again?" Danna was still half-asleep and probably thinking she was in court for some unknown reason. Daniel face-palmed and Asaph stared for a long time. Dipper was still struggling to understand everything that was happening. Lucifer made its way to her, and she looked up.

"**Tell me your name, hybrid**" It ordered. Lucifer knew her name – it knew almost everything, as a matter of fact – but he wanted to test the apprentices' limits, and challenge them mentally. Danna rubbed her eyes and yawned; she wasn't ready for questions yet, but that wasn't really hard to think about.

"Danna Saeryd" She slurred groggily, slowly standing up. "At your service, sir" She added mockingly, doing a salute. A smirk made its way to her face. Lucifer circled her, eyeing the girl from head to toe. Danna looked at the trail of black ink that the demon lord left wherever and whenever he walked. "What's with that black inky stuff?" She asked innocently, pointing to the trail, staring at Lucifer in the eye. _Not one inch of fear_, Lucifer added, slightly surprised.

"**I've never seen one single soul stare at me in the eye without collapsing of fear, hybrid. You're different from them.**" Lucifer bellowed in wonder. The mentors' eyes widened slightly; they had never seen their father show amazement to anyone, much less a hybrid, which it considered inferior to pure-blood demons. "**Tell me your mentor's name**" It demanded. Danna yawned again, clearly not fully awake yet, and pointed at Beatrice.

"Beatrice's my mentor." Danna said.

"**How is she at mentoring?**" Lucifer questioned. It wanted something; anything to frame its disgrace of a daughter.

"She's very cool, but she's so bossy and every time my bro Daniel and I do so something wrong she always bitc—"

"That's enough information, Danna." Beatrice cut her. Lucifer walked to another apprentice without staring at its daughter in the eye. It refused to accept that such an exotic apprentice belonged to the child it hated the most; the child that rebelled against it. It now hovered around Danna's twin, Daniel, as he tensed up; now _that_ was a reaction Lucifer was expecting. Lucifer walked in a circle, inspecting every inch of the child presented in front of him. Daniel bit his lip and stared at Lucifer dead in the eye – it sent him chills, but he didn't cower.

"**Daniel Saeryd, I suppose**" If that was a different situation, Daniel would have fainted there and then after having a stranger know his name, but Danna had already mentioned his name before, and since he was the only one who looked like her, then it was easy to suppose that he was the one she was mentioning; that and the fact that he was standing in front of the _fucking demon king_. "**Tell me, hybrid, what is your mentor like?**" Lucifer was trying everything to frame his daughter, and it was quite obvious already; he wanted them to point out a flaw, a weakness that would destroy her – her Achilles' heel.

"Mentor Beatrice is really cool and nice" Daniel said, suppressing the sudden need to pee all over himself; it was always in the most crucial moments that his bladder tried to explode. "And she's a good mentor as well. We have learned many things from her." Daniel took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down; his heart was hammering in his chest at the point of it actually hurting.

"**I see**" Lucifer nodded. Forgetting about Daniel, who let out a sigh of relief, it headed towards Asaph, who managed to keep his cool quite well; better than Keehnesi thought he would. It eyed the boy as well, from the hair color to body built. The boy seemed like an average kid, but the demon lord felt a small sparkle of hope in this one. His glare was relaxed and he didn't seem nervous. "**Your mentor's name, Asaph Felix Horth**" Lucifer demanded.

"Keehnesi Cipher" Asaph answered simply, with an ice-cold stare.

"**Describe him to me**" Lucifer said.

"He's calm and collected, rarely ever losing his patience. My mentor teaches everything simply and is very straightforward with everything he requires from me, attempting to push me to my very limits." That was an unexpected answer, and Lucifer had to admit it. Asaph's description was exactly what it would expect from a perfect and dedicated apprentice, a true Cipher's apprentice. However, would it admit that out loud and ignore its pride? Of course not.

"**Understandable**" It grunted before walking towards the last apprentice, Dipper Pines, the child of his youngest and most rebellious spawn, Billius Cipher. The boy stiffened completely as Lucifer approached him, and it could already smell the fear in the air, which pleased it a lot. However, it could also fear something else – sheer power. Could this hybrid be so powerful at the point where Lucifer could smell such power? And then it decided: for that child, it would do something different. "**Mason Pines**" Lucifer uttered, behind Dipper, while he did not dare to move an inch. "**I want you to do something different for me**"

Dipper paled. "W-what is it, sir?" He asked carefully. Getting in the demon king's bad side wasn't a good idea. Lucifer paused for a few seconds before stomping on the floor loudly. The room changed completely, like an optical illusion, leaving mentors and apprentices confused. They were now in a clear area, like a clearing in a forest in the middle of a scorching day, and Lucifer teleported itself to before Dipper, who took a step back. It stared at the twelve-year-old hybrid in the eye.

"**You shall fight me**"

* * *

**A/N: Ok, before you guys come bitching at me for the late chapter, hear me out.**

**I'm going through a thing. I can't really describe it using a word, so I'll call it a 'thing'. School projects are taking my whole free time; I'm going through a confusing phrase as well which I can't describe other than "I am my family's black sheep". However, here it is! Chapter 31! And, yeah, it is short, but I was running out of time, actually XD And, yeah, damn, Lucifer asking for a twelve-year-old kid to fight him. Mustn't end in a good way. Besides that, I've decided that there will be an OTP in this fanfiction. Who's gonna guess who it is? It's kind of a different pairing, though. And now, da questionsssss:**

**(1) Did you miss me? Aw, admit it, you missed me!  
(2) Who was that voice in Dipper's head? (that said 'coward' and stuff)  
(3) Lemme guess, song reference makes no sense. Yea, I know.  
(4) Keehnesi's going insane?  
(5) FITE ME (?!)  
(6) Danna is too honest?  
(7) Why can Lucifer smell Dipper's power while he can't do that with the others?**

**And that's all :3 hope you guys aren't angry at me for taking too long, and then coming with this abomination of a chapter XD I have much things planned for this fanfiction, but I'm afraid I'll take until 2020 to finish it :v I am not kidding.**

**P.S.: I've been soft-resetting for one-fucking-year on pokemon black version and then FUCKING SHINY SNIVY YEAHHHHHHHH (Most inappropriate place to announce that but I'm too excited, peoples).**


	32. AN: You matter

I'm going to use this A/N as a free space to say something.

No matter how much they tell you you're worthless, do not give up on your dreams. In this A/N, I've written about my suicidal feelings. At the time, I _did _feel like committing suicide and even engaged in self-mutilation (which didn't go far since my skin may have the same properties as an aligator's). During that time, I told all of my friends about these feelings and they encouraged me to keep going. I thought that was the end, even though I still felt slightly unmotivated to do anything else; my mom said they were inviting me to go to the movies. Thinking it'd be a good distraction, I went to my apartment's patio and waited for them. I did not expect what came next.

A party.

My friends threw me a surprise party.

I couldn't believe it. They cheered me up, we played games, ate ice-cream and I revealed to them about my atheism and bisexuality; they accepted it without a heart's beat while my own father ranted to me for half an hour about the bible (we're in good terms now, do not worry, my friends!). I still feel worthless and slightly suicidal from time to time, but then I remember that party. My friends bothered to plan all of that in the middle of their vacation to cheer me up and prove I mattered.

**_I mattered._**

So, if you still feel like you're not worth a cent, read this and think of all the people out there who still care about you, of all the people who would take a bullet for you, who sacrificed what they did and didn't have so you could have the best.

Just... _think_, ok?

– Awakened Niwana.


	33. Episode 32

**Episode 32: Royal Disasters [part 3].  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**_. . . _**

_"'Cause this is a battle  
and it's your final last call  
It was a trial, you made a mistake, we know  
But why aren't you sorry, why aren't you sorry, why?"_

_— Colbie Caillat. Battle._

**_. . . _**

_"**You shall fight me**"_

Only one word went through everybody's minds at the time: **_FUCK._**

Dipper was going to die, and he _knew it_. Danna had a slight smirk on her face, despite being worried for her maybe-friend. The situation they found themselves in was amusing, to say the least – would that qualify her as a psychopath yet? She hoped it didn't. All color had been drained from Dipper's face as he stared at the demon lord, flabbergasted, unable to speak anything. Was that it? Was that how he was going to die? At the hands of the devil? Daniel looked very concerned and that was visibly shown in his face; Asaph had a poker face but his eyes were slightly wide; the two mentors, Keehnesi and Beatrice, were impressed and scared for the poor child in front of their eyes, and Bill…

"_Dear father, _do you really think I will let my apprentice fight with you to death?" The demon challenged as he pulled his apprentice to behind him; Dipper happily complied and prayed Bill could talk Lucifer out of that stupid idea of fighting him; he really, really didn't want to die. "If you do, **_you're deathly wrong_**" Bill finished in a strong, demoniac voice, with his fangs showing – it was his nature, a true predator; like a wolf.

"**_Oh, child of mine, your apprentice has caught my attention for something – I can smell his power from far away. He is different from any other lower demon I have ever seen, and now I must test that power and see if it really is what I am thinking._**" Lucifer said, with its voice as strong and demoniac as Bill's. Dipper's heart skipped a beat – him? Different? But how? How was he any different from Asaph, Daniel and Danna? How could Lucifer smell his power? Was that even possible? Ever since he began that 'magical' journey throughout the depths of hell Dipper could only ask questions after questions.

"I don't care about whatever you're talking about; I won't let you touch one hair of my apprentice!" Bill roared. Dipper no longer dared to protest and allowed Bill to try and protect him. However, Lucifer's patient wore off and with a simple snap of fingers, the golden demon was gone. He was teleported back to where he was before, near his siblings. Lucifer snapped its fingers again, and then a shield rose from the ground, surrounding both it and Dipper and locking the others out. "LUCIFER!" Bill screeched while trying to knock the shield down; Dipper had never seen the demon so violent and serious before.

"**Now that he's out of our way, let the battle begin**" Dipper barely had time to process the sentence, and it was like his life passed through his eyes. Flashes of blue, pink and yellow filled the sky, covering the field in a massive, thick cloud of smoke and distracting Dipper long enough for Lucifer to attack him from behind. The demon lord teleported itself to behind him and, with a beam of multicolored energy on its hands, threw it directly at its son's apprentice. Because Dipper was naturally weaker than Lucifer, the attack threw him across the field and he collided with the barrier, the only thing preventing him from escaping from that hell.

The pain was real – it felt like millions of small knives stabbing him repeatedly on multiple parts of his body; the world spun continuously, despite Dipper's attempts to adjust his sight to normal again. "**You're already down, child?**" Lucifer asked teasingly. Dipper gritted his teeth and tried not to scream every curse word that he knew at the demon. His situation would not get any better if he got on Lucifer's bad side. Meanwhile, the others were watching the battle with worry; despite being a half-demon, Dipper was still human – he could take hits, he could feel pain, he could _die_. "**I thought you were stronger than that; have my senses failed me?**"

Forcing himself up, Dipper tried to keep himself from passing out from exhaustion and pain. He would not let himself be defeated so easily – he was stubborn, he was strong…

_… He was a Pines._

"I'm not going to give up yet!" He yelled, not regretting any word he had uttered; having faced demons, the big foot, a horde of gnomes, zombies, mutant squirrels and probably Cthulhu, maybe facing the king of the demons wasn't a big problem – the true problem was thinking about _how _to _defeat him_. Lucifer had already shown its first tactic: distract, teleport, attack. Dipper knew he had to be creative, just like when he had first defeated the wyvern… _Wait; the wyvern's plan… _He already knew a good plan – not perfect, but a good one.

"**This is becoming interesting**" Lucifer sneered. "**Do your worst, hybrid.**"

Dipper concentrated and tried to summon his wings. Meanwhile, his opponent was preparing its next attack, charging another beam of energy in its shadowy hands. Dipper felt his back burning, but ignored the pain and focused as much as he could. His shirt, having been ripped before, did not suffer any damage as his wings sprouted from his back. But just as he thought he had done it, everybody's eyes widened; even Lucifer seemed slightly impressed with what it was looking, but its shock turned into interest. Meanwhile, Asaph and Daniel gaped, Danna smirked, and the mentors exchanged glances; after all…

…His wings had grown _double_ the size.

That was definitely _NOT_ on his plans. Dipper bit his lip as Lucifer's attack had been charged, and it was ready to be thrown directly at him. Flapping his wings as hard as he could, Dipper felt himself being lifted from the ground, still slightly out of control, and flew forward without looking back; his goal was to distract Lucifer long enough to attack it in surprise, just like what he had done with the wyvern; however, he was alone now. He tried to fly as fast as he could, so Lucifer would not hit him.

A bream of energy had been thrown at his direction, and Dipper dove down, avoiding it. "**Now things have gotten serious**" Lucifer said, probably smirking (it was impossible to know), as it charged multiple beams of light and aimed each one of them at the hybrid flying above it. Dipper's eyes widened at the sight and tried to avoid the three orbs heading his direction; unfortunately, one of them hit his right wing and he lost his balance, falling to the floor.

"Oh, no" Dipper murmured as he tried to fly again, but the wing which had been hit was completely damaged. He winced at the feeling of the broken bones, but didn't give up. Lucifer charged a new beam and then another idea hit him; Dipper concentrated and emptied his mind entirely. He extended his hand and formed a small, golden orb of energy just as Lucifer aimed its attack at him. But he wasn't ready yet! Dipper knew he needed more time and then he had an idea. Despite his right wing being hurt, he used the two of them as a shield, forming a shell in front of him and protecting him from the attack – since the wings were double their normal size, it worked perfectly.

He felt a small pressure on his wings, but it didn't hurt. He thought a little more: his wings also didn't hurt when one of them had been hit by Lucifer; perhaps his wings were more resistant than him? Dipper's energy beam was finally charged – it took him more time than Lucifer; he was fairly weaker, and that was a reasonable explanation. Lucifer charged one more energy orb and Dipper waited; it had to be the perfect timing. The attack was flying directly at him but Dipper waited a little more – it had to be a perfect attack.

When the beam reached the middle of the field, Dipper finally let go of his own beam. The two beams collided and a cloud of smoke and sand surrounded the field. Dipper thought that was his chance of finally managing to attack Lucifer. Unfortunately, his plans were foiled when a gigantic yellow, pink and blue orb of light went right at him and, just then, everything went black.

**_. . . _**

When he woke up, Dipper could barely move. Every small movement hurt as much as being stabbed. The room he was in was totally white, and he could feel the soft mattress underneath him. Was he in a hospital? Questions and more questions followed, but they didn't matter. All Dipper wanted to know was what happened: did he lose? What would happen now? And why did he have bandage everywhere? The door opened with a loud 'thud', and Dipper winced at the sound as it felt like being stabbed in the ear. Danna, Daniel and Asaph entered.

"Hey dude, how are you feeling?" Daniel decided to ask. Dipper tried to move, but his muscles were hurting, especially on the right side. Then it clicked him – his broken wing. Did it also affect his back? Yes, it did, and that hurt a lot.

"Not very well" He coughed. "What happened? And for how long have I been here?"

"Well, first: you were here for five hours straight," Danna answered with a smile. "And second: Lucifer whooped your ass." Daniel was going to scold her for saying such tragic news in that way but he snorted while trying not to laugh. Asaph rolled his eyes at their childishness and attempted not to smile. Meanwhile, Dipper was left with his own thoughts: he lost. What would that mean? Would he be looked down upon? Asaph noticed his visible distress, and tried to comfort his friend, although he didn't know what to say.

"Dipper, don't worry, you did well." He complimented. "I wouldn't even know what to do if I were you. And besides, at least now you can say you fought the devil!" Dipper smirked. Asaph did cheer him up a bit – he had fought with Lucifer, king of hell. Well, he lost as well, but he did put up a little fight.

"I think you guys are forgetting we're in hell and there are demons everywhere." Daniel pointed out. That made Dipper wonder where the mentors were, but that didn't matter right now. He smiled at Daniel.

"I just fought against the devil." He pointed out. "I'm going to survive"

Yeah, he was going to survive.

**_. . ._**

Once Dipper had healed completely – which took a few hours – Keehnes, in his human form, came to fetch them and guided them to a completely dark room. The blunette felt a lot better as his back no longer hurt – one of the demons that took care of him (maybe it was a nurse, he didn't know) told him his wing was also completely healed, since they sprouted from his back and the wings were a lot more resistant than a normal wing, which meant they'd heal in a few days. Keehnesi turned on the room's lights with his telekinesis. Lucifer was in the middle of the room, and there were exactly seven chairs surrounding it.

"Why are we here again?" Bill (also in his human form) asked from behind the apprentices, causing them to jump in surprise with a yelp. Beatrice smirked at the reactions and the three children sighed in relief, happy for it not being a demon coming for their souls or something. The atmosphere dropped completely as the six presences waited for the demon lord to do something and curiosity took over them. Keehnesi had been told to come after the apprentices and take them to where he was when "the hybrid" had been completely healed.

"**That is a good question indeed, my child.**" Lucifer answered mysteriously as it paced around the room, leaving more trails of black ink around. Bill grimaced upon being called 'my child', but did not visibly protest. Any small movement and they would be gone. "**Sit**" It ordered. They happily complied, and Dipper was starting to get tired after standing on the doorway for so long. The battle had completely dried his energy, despite having been asleep for three days, according to Danna. The apprentices sat together at one side, and the mentors sat together at the other edge. "**After my battle with the hybrid Dominic Pines, I've already decided, and you shall stay.**"

"But he lost— hmpf!" Danna was going to protest, when Daniel covered her mouth and elbowed her. Lucifer spun on its 'heels' to look at her.

"**Yes, hybrid Danna Saeryd, he did lose. However, that is the main reason of why I am allowing you to stay.**" It explained. The apprentices exchanged glances of confusion and the mentors raised their eyebrows. Lucifer continued: "**The hybrid Mason has shown that, even after knowing my power's length, he would not give up easily. Bravery is not one characteristic I see often in a demon. Most are cowards who hide behind the walls of their power and shields. You have proven yourself to be a worthy demon indeed, Mason Pines.**" It was looking at the mentioned hybrid in the eye while speaking. However, Dipper no longer felt intimidated by those crimson eyes that once had terrified him.

He had proven himself to be a worthy demon.

Lucifer soon dismissed them after more discussions with the mentors about their stay. For how long they would stay and what they would do. Neither Dipper nor the apprentices understand a word, however, as after some time they began speaking in a foreign, undistinguishable language. It was probably a demon language, but it could also be Russian, German or any other language they didn't know. Ten minutes passed, and everything had been discussed. Lucifer teleported itself out of the room and the apprentices were left with their mentors. "What were you guys talking about?" Danna then broke the silence. The question was left there for a few seconds before Beatrice spoke.

"We were discussing about our plans for this month and what we would do during our stay. It will mostly be training, since you need more physical and mental challenges which only exist in hell, and since your power also enhances in the Nightmare Realm it will be easier to explore that power." She said in the minimum details, careful not to let anything out. "We'll be staying here for the next month." Everybody's eyes widened. One month in hell? They couldn't stay for an entire month. _I'm barely going to survive a day! _Asaph thought, fidgeting.

"We can't stay for one month! We have a family who isn't blind and stupid like The Fairly Odd Parents!" Daniel complained. Danna nodded.

"… Which is sad because I wanted a fairly odd parent" She sighed.

"I think an explanation is in order." Keehnesi sighed. "Every hour in hell counts as a second, and every day in hell counts in earth as one minute. Thirty days would be thirty minutes. I doubt your parents would mind if you wasted thirty minutes of your life enhancing your demon powers." Dipper mentally laughed at the last sentence. How would his parents react? How would _Grunkle Stan _or _Mabel_ react? How would Gravity Falls react? "Now that everything is settled, let's go." And so, they all exited the room without saying a word.

* * *

**A/N: Whoa, I finished this? Didn't think I would.**

**This is literally the only thing I can do to suppress my sadness for now. I haven't been having so much creativity for the ending, but eh. I tried XD And thank you guys soooooooooo much for helping me. You all make a difference in my life. I'm going to wait a while 'till I have another attack, I'm still kinda sad a little, but I feel a lot more motivated, so here's another chapter. Ah, and sorry for it being so short. I ran out of creativity.**

**EDIT: I added some things**


	34. Episode 33

**Episode 33: Exploring the Demonland [part one].  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**. . .**

_"But we are alive  
Here in death valley_  
_But don't take love off the table yet"_

_— Fall Out Boy. Death Valley._

**. . .**

"But what happened to my wings?" Dipper questioned after a few seconds of utter silence. "They were bigger than before…" Keehnesi bit his lip as all eyes turned to him, expecting an answer.

"I'm not sure" The pink-themed demon pronounced, in doubt. "We didn't know you even _knew _how to summon your wings, so the size is unknown to me. But I'm sure that, at your age and power, they should be smaller. Must have to do with the fact that your power enhances in the Nightmare Realm, but considering a hybrid's power is not that significant compared to a full-blooded demon, your wings should be at their normal size." Keehnesi explained. Asaph made an acknowledging sound; something between a groan and a nod. Daniel tried to comprehend the words and Danna was barely listening.

"I want to have big wings too!" She claimed. "I'll be the fastest flyer in Gravity Falls! Man, I'll win all of those races and watch baseball games without having to pay! Not that I don't already do that, mind you." Beatrice rolled her eyes at her apprentice – Danna was, perhaps, one of the naivest children she had ever met, but also a mean-spirited, prankster-like person; a perfect demon, maybe one you'd expect to be Lucifer's relative.

"I assure you that having large wings does not make you fly faster; in fact, Dipper, flying with your wings will be quite a challenge: they will be hard to manage and heavier. Do you think you can handle the pressure?" Keehnesi asked his brother's apprentice. Dipper, on the other hand, had serious doubts about that. He had seen how hard his wings were to manage in his battle with Lucifer; heavier, larger and intimidating, they were magnificently terrifying. He didn't know if he could handle it, but could at least attempt to do so for his own sake.

"I'll try my best" Dipper answered.

"That's the spirit, Pine Tree." Bill said, ruffling his apprentice's hair. "Well, we're going to show you kids the castle later. Meanwhile, get these coins and go buy yourselves a gun or something dangerous. Each coin is worth around one thousand dollars or whatever your currency is called." He gave each apprentice one golden coin. "Don't kill each other yet; training starts tomorrow." The mentors faced each other and teleported away in a few seconds. The children faced each other, wondering what to do.

"I guess we just have to walk around and hope we make it to dinner." Daniel suggested. "Does anyone know where the exit to this place is?" They all faced each other.

"Well, let's walk around and open all doors." Danna piped up cheerfully. "But what do we do with these?" She pointed to the golden coin. Asaph eyed his own coin, wondering if an answer would come from the sky.

"I guess we have to spend it." He responded. "Let's just pray we come out alive."

**. . .**

"Ok, where do we go first?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, hey, how about we go there?" Danna pointed. To their left there was a small, old-looking store. Not many demons seemed to go there, and Asaph was fairly sure the place was abandoned. "Come on, we can go get some old haunted demon gold or something! Maybe I can find a scythe or something, like in that anime where people get turned into weapons!" She said excitedly while the group headed there. They still weren't sure if they'd find something interesting, but trying was the point.

"Well, let's look around and try our hardest to stay alive" Dipper explained simply. "Stick to that plan, and we'll be fine, ok?" The three other apprentices nodded as they split. Asaph went to an abandoned part of the shop and all he could see was a book store. There were old books of all types, colors and sizes, but the one that attracted him the most was a dictionary about the demon language translating to English. He smiled and picked up the book, checking the price: it costed one golden coin, exactly what he had been given (AN: Because convenience).

Danna went to the opposite side of Asaph, and looked around. There were necklaces there – all types of necklaces and bracelets. Some had cursed jewels, and others had golden feathers. One thing caught her attention in that mess: a simple bracelet with a pen attached to it. She put it on and clicked on the pen's button; suddenly, instead of a pen there was a sword surrounded in blue fire. Danna's eyes widened and she smiled: that was perfect, and it only costed one golden coin. She happily withdrew the blade and walked around again.

Meanwhile, nothing would attract Daniel. Everything seemed appalling to him. One thing was too bizarre; another was too scary; the next one was too hilarious to be serious, and it went on… Suddenly he bumped with Dipper, who was checking out some ancient-looking books. "Sorry, man, I wasn't paying attention," Daniel apologized after standing up and helping his friend. Dipper coughed as some dust arose from the books and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it" He said. "Did you find anything interesting?" Daniel sighed.

"I don't like anything here… I've been trying to find something interesting but I can't find shit." He cursed, looking at the golden coin. "I still don't understand why they gave us those coins. Is it to distract us or something?" Dipper bit his lip while going through the books, wondering. What if Daniel was right? What if the mentors were trying to distract them because they were plotting something? What would it be? Dipper really wished he could read minds… maybe he would know what they were thinking, what their plans were, what Bill was thinking about him… How had Bill changed that month?

Suddenly Daniel saw something at the corner of his eye; a small, red sack with a golden rope. He opened it and saw a bunch of white pills. Raising an eyebrow, he went to the cashier, an old demon with a long beard (who looked like Dumbledore) and asked: "Excuse me, sir, do you know what these pills are for?" And he showed him the sack with the pills. The demon looked inside the sack for a moment before answering.

"These are powerful demon drugs. It will make any demon – except our king – fall asleep within a few seconds." The cashier answered.

"Whoa, how much does it cost?"

"One golden coin"

"Here it is!" Daniel said cheerfully as he paid for it. The pills didn't really attract him in any way, but that would be useful one day. Dipper arrived soon enough with a book about old mysteries and handed it to the cashier, paying one gold coin for it. Asaph and Danna also arrived with their items and, now that they were all done, exited the shop together. They spoke about their new items and what they did. Danna gave them a personal demonstration of her own weapon, but Daniel never told them what the pills were for – he only said he had bought them. Dipper and Asaph explained their books.

After a while, they decided to split.

Dipper tried to argue that staying together was the best option – after all, they were in hell and four were better than one – but he didn't have that much of an argument. Each apprentice wanted to go one way, and maybe it would be a faster method instead of visiting each place together. Sighing, Daniel began walking around the town all by himself, gripping his bag of pills tightly (it wasn't the best weapon, but it was his only choice of one) and preparing to be attacked at any minute. Suddenly, one girl pops up and tackles him to the ground; Daniel felt lucky for it being made of grass and not concrete, but then remembered he was being pinned down by a maniac demon.

"Hi, I'm Jayden! What's your name? Do you have a demon girlfriend? You want one? I'm right here if you need! Are you new here?" The demon girl, Jayden, asked as fast as she could; her blonde hair was spread all over the place and disheveled, just like her clothes; it looked like she hadn't bathed in years, although she smelled like bubblegum. His first three minutes in hell, and Daniel already had a fan; _huh, what a turn of events_, he thought.

"Uh, I…" Daniel stuttered, not knowing what to say. One wrong move and he was going to die in the hands of a crazy demon girl.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A voice asked from behind them. The two looked at the voice's direction and Daniel was instantly relieved to see Asaph standing there. The other boy stared in Jayden's eyes and asked one more time: "What are you doing? Leave him alone!" They all seemed to have the same age, and she was probably a half-demon too, which made Asaph more relieved. Jayden looked at him unimpressed but amused, and then sat on Daniel's stomach, turning to look at Asaph's eyes challengingly.

"Oh, and what are you, his boyfriend?" She asked teasingly. Asaph cracked a smile.

"What if I was?"

**. . .**

Bill looked at the window and saw it was already getting dark; suddenly he wondered where his apprentice and his friends would be. Were they still outside? What a shame he longer had his omnipresence to know what was happening. Then he looked down and saw the four children entering the castle and passing the guards, who let them in after inspecting them (and they made sure not to look into their eyes). Bill and his siblings went after them. "So, how did it go? Did you buy yourselves anything?" Beatrice asked after they all reunited. The apprentices showed them their objects, and she nodded. "Well…"

"We have to present you to someone." Keehnesi interrupted as Beatrice frowned upon being cut off, but said nothing about it. She'd get her revenge later… "Come with me." The apprentices followed. Daniel watched as Asaph walked near him and mentally thanked him for being there when he needed. That's what friends were for, right? Heh, friends… they were friends, but… could they be… more? _What?! Daniel Saeryd is developing a crush on Asaph Horth? Ha, never! _Daniel tried to convince himself, but every word made him blush harder and harder.

"Uh, Daniel, are you ok? You look a little sick." Asaph asked as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Daniel immediately flinched and jumped out of his reach.

"I-I'm fine, it's just… um, it's kind of hot in here, right? Where's the air conditioner?" Daniel lied, but his lie was visible to everyone. Danna smirked as she found out what was going on, and Dipper raised an eyebrow as he remained quiet. Asaph rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to be fine, you know?"

"Yeah, but…" Daniel sighed. "It's nothing. I just wanted to thank you for saving me from that crazy demon girl earlier. I'm sure I almost saw myself with thirty crazy demon spawns" He joked. "They all had her eyes. Her crazy eyes" Asaph laughed while the two other apprentices were left confused. Before any of them could ask anything, they were interrupted by Keehnesi.

"We're here." They stopped in front of a big door at the back of the castle which led to another room. Daniel gritted his teeth and tried to control his blush and heartbeats, but that task was easier said than done. _Damnit_, he thought. _I don't have a crush on Asaph Horth, I don't have a crush on Asaph Horth, I don't… _But it was useless to deny it.

_Okay, I do have a crush on Asaph Horth._

* * *

**A/N: Hey, guys!**

**I'm a lot better now, and I've decided to work on a new chapter. No, it isn't the end. In fact, it is just the beginning of the story. And if you guys are wondering (which you probably aren't), I'm a lot better, thanks to you guys and my friends. I've let my secrets out, and they supported me. In fact, they prepared a surprise party for me that monday, and it did cheer me up! My mom was going to buy me a Nintendo 3DS for christmas, because I got no birthday present (I gave it up to save money for christmas to get a more expensive present) and they bought it earlier. I have a lot more energy and I've got more time to write my stories, since I'm on vacations. So, I decided to write this. I feel kinda ashamed O/O**

**Man, I love that pairing. I ship it since I created them (okay, maybe later). You guys were suggesting so much Danna x Dipper that I'm like "man, my OTP is the opposite!". Don't hate me XD because I tried my best.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	35. Episode 34

**Episode 34: Exploring the Demonland [part two].  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**. . .**

As soon as Keehnesi's hand was a few centimeters above the golden knob, Dipper's mind practically exploded with possibilities; what would he want them to see? Maybe it was a test for them to begin their practices, or maybe not. Whatever it was, he had better show it soon. Daniel tried his best to control his breathing and focused on what was really important, suppressing his own feelings and putting the excitement of a new discovery ahead over it. Perhaps he could forget Asaph existed for a while; perhaps they could still be friends…? What if those feelings weren't real? Why, then, did they feel so real? Why did he feel like that?

Was it because of how Asaph considered him his boyfriend earlier? Daniel knew it was just to scare the demon girl away, but he couldn't forget about it. The words still echoed in the depths of his mind and bounced in his skull. Love was an agonizing yet vicious feeling. Could he consider this love?

Daniel was sure he only knew Asaph for a few months and even then he noticed a few things about his friend, but nothing he'd drool over like a teenage anime yaoi fangirl. Why did he begin to then develop these strange feelings? Why did he feel so attached to them, willing to embrace that new revelation? Daniel knew he was one strange being, and needed to be studied as soon as possible. Even being dissected would be less embarrassing than admit having a crush on his male friend.

After a few seconds of pure tension set around the room, Keehnesi opened the door slowly. Danna lost her cool immediately. "C'mon! Can we stop pretending this is some kind of suspense fan-fiction and just open the fucking door already?!" She yelled. Everybody turned to stare at her and she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Ah, don't tell me you weren't thinking about this either. You're all guilty!" She yells dramatically. The children, though, had to admit they did think about this, but secretly. What would be the use, though, if their mentors could read minds? Keehnesi's lips curved into a small smirk as he opened the door faster and entered, making room for the other ones to repeat his action.

That's when the apprentices saw what was going on.

Sharp blades clashing against each other as sparks flew in the sky; the air was heavy with tension as the demons prepared their attacks against their foes in the other side of the arena; beams of multicolored energy stole all of the attention with their glorious light. The place was not only a complete hell, but also could be considered a heaven. Above them there was a delicate glass ceiling, exposing the moonlight to every demon present in the room. The attackers saluted each other before making their first move and seeing who would win the round: demon against demon; beast against beast; metal against metal. Attack, retreat, attack, retreat – rinse and repeat; it was almost mechanical. During the chaos, Dipper questioned himself: _what exactly am I seeing?_

"I think you're wondering what's going on" Beatrice guessed.

_Oh, wait, they can read minds. Never mind, then. _Dipper thought while biting his lower lip, patiently waiting for the answer. It felt like an eternity when it was in fact only a few seconds. They all looked around one more time, musing the meaning of all that.

"This—" Bea said, while motioning to the arena. "—is a battlefield, and you'd better get used to it right now, because from tomorrow on, you shall train on it exactly how these guards are training." She explained. Dipper felt a bittersweet feeling; he was thrilled to be able to have so much space to move on and practice new movements and abilities, but at the same time was anxious and scared for what would come next. Would he survive to see his loved ones again? It was only a month; maybe he could make it through that. He had battled Lucifer, king of demons: he would surely survive.

But seeing how cruel and merciless some of these demons were with their enemies, suddenly he wasn't so sure of that.

"Oh, man, I can't wait until then!" Danna jumped excitedly.

"But before we go to bed, I must present you to someone." Bill said. He walked through the utter chaos of the battlefield and, without being hit by one single blow, reached the other side of it. He came back – via teleportation – with another demon in its human form. Dipper analyzed him well: waist-long, straight, pure white hair; dazzling, hypnotizing triple green eyes – two of them in their normal places and one above, in the middle – and a dark-toned skin. He was wearing a battle suit to prevent himself from being harmed. "Kids, this is Archimicarus, and he is the captain of the main demon army."

"Whoa…" Asaph murmured as he stared at the other demon. He looked like he came from a mythological book with his shiny armor and long sword.

"Hello, apprentices" Archimicarus spoke. "Before we go any further, I will assist your mentors in your training. As a professional battler, I will assure no harm falls upon you while you're on my watch. However, before I dismiss you—" He clapped twice as all of the demons present in the room stopped what they were doing – it didn't matter if they were winning or not, they stopped completely. Dipper wondered how they were able to hear that minimum sound from such a great length. They were demons, though, and one does not simply doubt a demon's capability. "—I'd like to have a battle with one of you. Just a small demonstration of what I am capable of."

Everybody stared at Dipper.

"Oh, no, I just healed from a cat fight with the kind of demons. I'm not having a battle with another one!" He protested. Asaph bit his lip as he stepped forward – he was willing to have a battle, suddenly. He could feel the adrenaline rushed through his veins.

"I will" He announced. Archimicarus smiled and, in a snap of fingers, conjured two swords. He gave one of them to Asaph, who eyes it impressed. Never in his life would have he imagined he would hold a sword. The shiny blade and sharp tip were what most stood out from the weapon itself. The handle was colored in a beautiful navy blue, and seemed to be made from the finest leather. The captain went to the right side of the arena, ready for a battle. Asaph noticed this and headed to the left side, with his muscles tensing up, ready for a battle. As soon as they reached the middle of the field, all warriors stopped what they were doing and opened space for their leader; murmurs arose all around.

"Don't worry, kiddo, I'll go easy on you!" Archimicarus said. Asaph sneered.

"What?" He asked. "I thought this was a battle. Would you spare your real life enemy?" The question echoed through the hall. Archimicarus raised an eyebrow. The kid did have a good point; would he spare an attacker? Would he? The room fell silent; the jittery that once before filled the room dissipated completely. "Don't hold anything back. I came here for a battle, and that's what I'm going to get! Be cruel, merciless, soulless, I don't care; just don't pretend I'm a delicate flower! I won't succumb to your touch!" The captain stared at Asaph with a serious face before smirking. He had never received such an answer; whenever he had a light battle with one of his soldiers, they never reacted – they just let it happen, since it would be better than having a serious fight.

"You know, kid…" Archimicarus' smirk never left his lips as he pieced his sword's blade to the floor and used it as a cane, leaning against it. Dipper tried to find out how he defied physics by not allowing the sword not to fall with his weight, but it was useless. "I like your spirit. Most of my men accept my mercy because they know it will be less painful for them, but you won't allow me to treat you as garbage, as if you were under me, less powerful. Just like your animal form: you have a tiger's spirit and courage. Never backs down during a challenge." He drew the sword back and prepared himself. "Get ready. I won't hold it back." Asaph smirked as well.

"That's what I hope!" He yelled.

It was a pause of three seconds before Archimicarus did the first move. He ran across the field with an impressive speed, and raised the sword above his head, ready to push it down. Asaph's first reflex was to use his own sword as a shield. The blades clashed against each other and sparks flew in the air. Asaph used all his muscles and will to hold against Archimicarus and avoid being beheaded, but he had half the captain's strength. He realized the demon's true potential: he would be dead in a few seconds. Asaph tried to think of an escape plan, and then one thing rang through his mind. He retracted the weapon and used it as a boost to slide in between Archimicarus' legs. Then he stood up and pointed the sword to his back; _touché_, he thought.

However, the battle wasn't over; in fact, it was just starting.

Archimicarus spun on his heels and once again their blades clashed against each other as the two fought for control and domination. Asaph was already starting to lose energy and determination to keep fighting, for his opponent was too strong to be defeated. He, though, would not surrender and vowed to keep fighting until his fall. Asaph narrowed his eyes defiantly and once again used his sword as a shield and then pushed it up, forcing Archimicarus to step back. He decided to use Dipper's tactic; it was the perfect plan.

"Art thou ready to give up yet, hybrid?" The captain asked formally. Perhaps he was just trying to be dramatic like Danna. Asaph grinned tiredly.

"Not yet" He responded.

Asaph ran around as fast as he could to confuse his opponent. Every move was unpredictable and unplanned – he was zipping around and going at every possible direction. Being smaller and leaner than Archimicarus, he was faster and had a good chance of avoiding another attack. The captain gritted his teeth, not exactly content with his new challenge, and charged at Asaph with full energy. The black-haired boy was surprised to see how fast his opponent was, but that would be a lesson to never underestimate anyone. "Be faster!" Archimicarus yelled as he attempted to attack Asaph, who dodged the blow skillfully.

_I have to steal his sword, _Asaph thought. Archimicarus smirked as he could read minds, but let the child carry on with his plan. _Let's see how this goes on… _He wondered.

Asaph then continued his previous plan – his goal was to tire Archimicarus mentally and physically, but, being a demon, his plan perhaps wasn't the brightest one. Just like the soldiers earlier, Archimicarus attacked and retreated whenever he felt threatened. Asaph tried his best to run at every possible direction, but being just half-demon it was a difficult task. However, his plan immediately failed after Archimicarus bumped into him purposefully, making Asaph fall to the floor and let go of his sword, which flew a few centimeters away from him. Noticing his vulnerability without a weapon, and how the captain was charging against him again, Asaph used his psychic powers to bring his weapon to his hand.

"Using your psychic powers, huh? Clever, but not fast enough" Archimicarus explained as Asaph jumped into another fighting position. The sound of metal banging against metal was becoming repetitive as each opponent was trying to gain control of their situation. The battle was reaching its end. Daniel eyed Asaph's movements in awe, as he knew he would never be able to reproduce them. He then blushed slightly at other thoughts than he tried to pry away from his mind, but was unable to.

Then, Archimicarus and Asaph's swords collided once more before the captain forced his sword upwards causing Asaph's to be pried away from his hand and far from his reach. Before the boy could use his psychic powers again, Archimicarus swept his feet over Asaph's and made him fall on his back, before pointing his sword a few inches to his neck, dangerously close to it. "As I said, kid, you are smart and have good plans, but you're not fast enough to make them happen." He said. Asaph sighed, but then smiled.

"Well, that was a good battle" He extended his hand to Archimicarus, who was confused for a minute before realizing what was going on and shaking it.

"Whenever you feel like fighting me and showing your new tactics, I'll always be here." He explained. Asaph nodded before going to his group.

"Well, now that we've had our little show, let's go." Beatrice said. They all nodded before exiting the arena. Archimicarus sighed and smiled, inhaling deeply, as he once again used his sword as a cane to lean against it, but his joy ended quickly when he spotted something sparkling at the corner of his eye. Archimicarus raised an eyebrow and bowed down to grab the object. It was a golden necklace with a cross on the tip, carefully made with every little detail possible. _Maybe it's that boy's… _He thought, before going after him. He had to return it to Asaph before it was too late. Just then, while walking towards the door, another thing caught his eye. At the back of the cross, there was a small writing on it.

He analyzed it deeply before he stopped walking completely. Archimicarus paled.

Written at the back of the cross was the name of his long lost lover, Alma Horth.

* * *

**A/N: I'm back, and I have nothing else to say other than I'm on vacations and motivated af to write, so let's just read this author's note and go to sleep because I've got nothing to say. JK, here are the questions:**

**(1) What did you think of the battle? Who did you think would win?  
(2) What would your tactic be?  
(3) Archimicarus? STEVEN UNIVERSE?  
(4) Alma Horth is Archimicarus' lover? Does that mean...?**

**And that's all for today, folks. Bye bye!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	36. Episode 35

**Episode 35: Night terrors.  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**. . .**

_"In this give-and-take relationship you cry as if in a tragedy drama,  
and play the heroine"_

_— Vocaloid. Sekishinsei: Kamatoto Araryouji. (StarGar656)_

**. . .**

Once the little 'show' was over, the apprentices followed the mentors towards a hallway full of rooms; at every three steps there was a room to both their left and right. The seven of them stopped in front of a room at the end of the corridor. The door was carefully detailed with strange and unknown figures – Greek gods, perhaps? No, that couldn't be it… The knob was made of silver and shone when the light hit a certain spot. The door itself was painted in white, which didn't really contrast with the shiny, gray knob. "Alright, this is your room…" Bill explained shortly. "There are four beds and whatnot, we don't really care about whatever you do, but we'd love to see no limbs missing once we come here again."

"Aye, aye, captain!" Danna saluted. Beatrice coughed and tried to hide her laughter. Keehnesi rolled his eyes rather dramatically and so did his brother, but the latter did so with a smile on his face. "Ok, so, can we go in, or is there anything else we need to know to, uh, survive and stuff? …Because I'm not really good at the whole _survival_ thing yet. I mean, I always tried playing Undertale and even on the genocide route all I did was die. Man, I loved killing back all of those motherfu—" Beatrice coughed again, but this time it was to get the attention.

"Anyway, before we allow you to enter, Danna… are you sure you want to stay in the same room, or do you want a separated room?" She asked. Danna raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, sounding as if she had just been offended.

"What? Just because I have a vag—"

"Okay, okay, I get it, you can stay." Keehnesi interrupted, sounding a little embarrassed. Danna smirked – she won. The demons left the children behind and went to attend other matters. The four of them entered the room and looked around, not wanting to miss any single detail. There were two bunk-beds, two lampshades and that was it. The walls were yellow and dull, like they hadn't been touched or even looked at in ages. The room smelled like medicinal syrup for some odd reason that no one wanted to know. Danna was the first one to take a step ahead and choose one of the beds – to which she ended up choosing the left upper bed.

"Aw, man, that's what I'm talking about!" She yawned.

"You're not going to sleep now, are you?" Daniel raised an eyebrow. "When we're on vacations you get little sleep. I swear to you guys and god himself, she once went to sleep at four in the morning and woke up at eight IN THE MORNING!" He turned to his friends. Asaph sneered and Dipper shrugged – he also liked to stay up late, but it was more to explore the journal and its depths than to trash-post on social media all day. Mabel never really stayed up late unless it was to read the "18 and plus" forbidden books that she _thought_ Dipper didn't know about (he knew).

"Of course I'm not going to sleep. I just want to relax a little because PEN SWORD!" And after she screamed the last words, Danna whipped out her newest weapon and, in an attempt to point it to her brother, accidentally let it go and the sword flew across the room, landing near Daniel's head. His body muscles stiffened like a board as he tried to process the situation again. "Whooooops…" Danna mumbled. "Uh, sorry, Dan, it looks like the situation _slipped _out of my hands, he he…" She made a pun about it. Dipper and Asaph were snickering like crazy, but Daniel gave them a death glare.

"Alright, _now _we're going to sleep." He ordered, going to the bed under Danna's. Asaph and Dipper shrugged as they made their way to the other bunk.

"I'm going to stay awake for a while. I want to read my new book." Asaph explained as he grabbed the old book he had bought. The others nodded and turned off the lights, while Asaph was left with a small lamp near his bed. He passed his hand through the book's cover, made of real fur. He wondered what kind of fur that book was made of – whether it be an animal or a mythological creature, like a werewolf, it didn't matter now. Asaph slowly opened the book, trying to keep the suspense going, and read the first page: words and more words in demon language that he could not understand, but beside them was their translation in English. "What if…?" Asaph whispered to himself as he skipped to the letter 'K'.

"Will it…?" He asked himself again. "Can it be…?" He wondered. He finally found the page to the letter he was searching for. After looking at each word starting with 'K', he was starting to lose hope that the word ever existed. Maybe it didn't; perhaps his mentor, Keehnesi, simply invented the word. Maybe it wasn't even a word to begin with! It could be anything: his first words, an animal sound, or anything else, really. However, when he was close to giving up, the word popped up on the second page of the letter 'K'. It was there, on the upper left part, staring at him and mocking him. After what looked like hours of staring at the word, he finally decided to read it:

**Keehnesi_  
_Pronunciation:_ (Keen-sae).  
_Meaning: _Traitor/outcast._**

Of course, questions needed to be asked.

**. . .**

_Dipper knew he was dreaming – it was obvious._

_If he was awake, he would still be at the Nightmare Realm, or back to the shack, but he was _nowhere. _He was inside a dark room with no furniture; there were four mirrors hanging on each wall, looking as old as time itself. He could barely see anything in front of him, or see anything at all for that matter, and, to make things worse, the place was very cold, and he only had his t-shirt, shorts and socks on. Why did he even think sleeping was a good idea?! There were two flights of wooden-made stairs in front of him, and it seemed as if they were about to fall apart. It was typical scenario of a horror movie._

_He began walking forward, until he stepped on something. Looking down, Dipper saw a piece of paper on the floor. There was something written in it, and even in the dark, he could clearly see the letters. It was an abnormality that he was able to read in the dark, but then again, he was in a dream, or nightmare, and everything was possible. Dipper bit his lip; did he really want to read it? Should he stay like this and wait until he woke up in the morning? Maybe he should do the latter, right? But Dipper just couldn't resist; he had to read the paper… Focusing on it, Dipper noted how the letters were blurry, but still readable._

**_Ỳ̴͠Ǫ̸Ú̵͠'̴͞R̵̢̧͘͞Ę ̧͜͞Ǹ̵̸͟͝Ǫ_****_҉_****_͡T̵͢_****_҉_****_̢́ ͜͏͟A̧̕͝L̷͠O͠͞_****_҉҉_****_N͞_****_҉_****_̵E͢͠.͘͜͏_**

_Not… alone…?_

_Only one thing went through his mind then: NOPE._

_"Okay, I'm out, can't do this anymore, need to go home! You hear that? I give up!" Dipper raised his hands in defeat and he turned around to do anything else other than explore the place he was currently in, but bumped against a wall. "Wait, that wall wasn't there before!" Dipper whispered and shouted at the same time in panic. Whatever was happening, he wasn't enjoying it. That was a thought situation to be in. "This is cheating…!" He groaned. Slowly turning around, with the paper flashing brightly like a flashlight in the night, Dipper bit his lip and decided to keep going. There were no doors on that area, just the flight of stairs. Destiny was definitely mocking him. Like he said before, and quoting it again…_

_…Your typical scenario for a horror movie._

_He was already half-expecting something to jump out of nowhere and lunge at him with its might, like what had happened during that time… The remembrance of the event still gave him shivers. With no other choice, he sighed and turned around, ready for everything. His first steps weren't easy – the floor cracked and whined upon being touched slightly. Even tip-toeing didn't help it. Suddenly being in the mindscape wasn't such a bad idea. Just then, something told him to stop- no, it ordered him to stop. There were no words, but he felt it within his soul. It was like being controlled by an invisible force playing god._

_The paper felt warm on his hand again and then he looked down, deciding it was probably a good idea to read it:_

**_D̷_****_҉_****_̛Ò̴͘͠͝N̶̨'̛͟T̶̸̨͝ ̸̴̛̀L̡͟_****_҉_****_̷̧O̵̴̕͟͠O͜͠͡Ḱ͞͞ ̷͡A_****_҉_****_́͞T̸̨͘͢ ̸̡T̸̡͠H̶̢É̶̴̡͜ ̶̷̢_****_҉_****_M͏͏̶͡I̡̧͘R͘͜͞R̷̀͘Ơ̧͘͘R̨̀̕͏S̸̸̛_**

_"What's in the mirrors…?" Dipper asked himself as he couldn't resist. At the corner of his eyes, he looked at himself in the mirror. But there wasn't only himself – there was something else. A pitch-black creature with blood red eyes stood behind him, with its gray teeth, grinning widely. "Oh, god…" Dipper murmured as he looked behind him. There was nothing there. He looked forward, still staring at the mirror at the corner of his eyes. The vision wasn't perfect, but it was clear that he indeed wasn't alone. 'Go forward, go forward…' he thought._

_His steps were loud and noticeable, but Dipper couldn't care less about it. Once he stopped, the steps continued for two seconds before they also stopped. Dipper turned his head around slightly and caught a glance of what was the creature he had seen in the mirror. It was staring at him, still grinning. Dipper felt a lump on his throat and continued to walk. Now he could notice it: the sound of four feet and not two. It was following him. He had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and was ready to get up. Once he put his first foot on the first step, he heard a small whimper, followed by a word:_

_"**Beware**…" It whispered_.

_He put his second foot on the second step._

_"**The**..." The second word followed. Dipper took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down; his heart was hammering in his chest and seemed ready to pop out at every second. He kept going up, and the faster he was, the faster the words would come out. "**Child**… **Who**… **Dwells**… **Within**… **Another**… **Body**…" And that was the end of it. Dipper had reached the end of the first flight of stairs. There were four more steps to go until he could escape that hell. He could still feel its presence there, because it was yet to give him the rest of the message. Right now, Dipper had so many questions: the child who dwells within another body? What could that even mean?! He stepped on the ninth step. "**Beware**..." It uttered. "**Of**… **Am**—… **Cipher**…" _

_Am Cipher? What? At this point Dipper was suppressing the need to blurt out random questions._

_"It's over…" He sighed once he arrived in what seemed to be an attic of some sorts. There were three doors in front of him. _

_"**CHOOSE**" The creature roared. Dipper flinched but looked up fast enough to choose the middle door. Like Keehnesi had done before, his hand fluttered above the doorknob, wondering what he would see. Finally, he turned the knob around and opened the door to be faced with pure darkness. It smirked at him._

_"**GOOD CHOICE.**"_

**. . .**

_"LEAVE ME ALONE! LET ME GO!" Someone yelled in the absence of light, and Dipper knew it wasn't him._

_Just when everything went quiet once again, Dipper hit the ground. It didn't hurt, but he was surprised to find out that the darkness had a bottom, after all. He looked around and wondered what was happening. The voice that had screamed belonged to a male. The room was filled with the sun's light, and there was a circle of demons around him. On the middle, there were four demons: Bill, Beatrice and Keehnesi. All of them had their heads bowed down in shame. The fourth one was being engulfed in blue aura, held down against the floor by Beatrice's psychic powers. She seemed to refuse to look at him, as if a simple stare would turn her to dust._

_The other demon was no older than an adolescent. He seemed to be seventeen and no more, no less than that. His white hair was disheveled and waist-length. Golden eyes were staring down at the multicolored demons with shame and regret, as if he had done nothing wrong, but still being disregarded by them nonetheless. His pale skin seemed to get even paler each second. Bill stared down at the demon with pain; no one could even look at him without a negative reaction. Keehnesi kept his composure – he showed no emotion at all; the lack of such thing made him look like a stone._

_"You've brought shame upon our family!" She suddenly yelled, with her eyes turning from a comforting blue to a menacing yellow. The demon bit his lip and looked at the floor with tears in his eyes._

_"**It **wasn't me!" He yelled, sounding desperate for help he sought so much in the power he consumed. "**It **made me do it! **It **was telling me that I had to do it!" Dipper no longer understood what was happening; who was 'it'? What was he seeing? Then, the adolescent started laughing maniacally. His eyes were no longer yellow; instead, they now were completely pitch-black and demonic. There was no iris visible, nor any white sclera: just black. "**Yo U IdI oTs! yOu c An k IlL m E Al L YoU Wa nt, b Ut I wIl L nEv Er g Et rID oF m E.**" He warned in a demonic voice. All presences' eyes narrowed at him. _

_"That's it!" One of the demons said in a British accent. "This hybrid is a danger to our society! He is a psychopath, and must be eliminated, and **you** shall do it!" He pointed at Bill, whose eyes widened in surprise and shock._

_"I WON'T KILL MY OWN CHILD!" He bellowed._

_"You will, we will force you to." Another demon uttered as she stepped closer, until the previous demon with the accent held her arm and shook his head negatively. It was a signal to leave them alone. Bill's hands turned into fists as he tried to control his anger and sadness at the same time. Dipper stood up and tried to touch his mentor, but his hand went straight past him. However, as he did that, something happened: Bill shivered. It was like a ghost had gone through him. Dipper's eyes widened at that as he withdrew the hand and watched the scene unfolding in front of him. "Only a family member can kill a traitor!" The demon lady said._

_"I will do it." Keehnesi offered as he stepped ahead. Bill gave him a broken stare. "It will be less painful if I do." Bill bit his lip but nodded, turning his head away._

_Keehnesi stared into his nephew's eyes and the latter whispered: 'I'm so sorry' as he began tearing up. The pink demon inhaled deeply before extending his hand and preparing the attack that would kill his nephew, and there would be no turning back. 'I'm so sorry!' He whispered again, with a stream of tears, and sobbing. Keehnesi felt a tug at his heart; he couldn't do it; he couldn't kill his own nephew; the sweet child he once knew. What happened to that child? What had he turned into? Finally, Keehnesi decided: he would not do it. Why not play with his colleagues' minds a little bit?_

_He charged a pink beam and, hesitating for a second, aimed it at the one in front of him. His nephew took the beam gladly as his punishment, and vanished slowly. That was all Dipper saw before everything went black, and Keehnesi's voice echoed through his mind in an apologetic tone:_

_"**I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, Amie…**"_

**. . .**

"Pine Tree, wake up!" Dipper was harshly awoken with Bill shaking him violently. He was startled for a minute and then looked around, confused. He was in another room, and the worst part: he was carrying a knife. What the- "Ok, Pine Tree, what the hell are you doing with a goddamn knife in my room?" Oh, so he was in Bill's room, and with a knife! Well, what an unpleasant situation to be in… His first reaction was to drop the knife, and the second was to freeze completely. "Pine Tree, I demand an answer." Bill said, louder this time.

"I didn't do anything on purpose, I swear!" Dipper tried to defend himself, but wasn't sure if Bill was buying any of that. He was dreaming – what was he even doing with a knife? Bill took a deep breath and then a sigh.

"Alright" He said, grabbing his apprentice and throwing him on his bed.

"Uh, what is that?" Dipper questioned.

"Tonight you're sleeping with me, and I will make sure you won't harm anyone." Bill answered. Dipper raised an eyebrow. "I am being serious." He grabbed a chair and put it near the window, watching the night. His eyes seemed to glow even more at the moonlight. Dipper tried to forget the thoughts and the dream he just had, but couldn't help but focus on the latter. All he could think of was the last sentence: _I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Amie_. Who was Amie? Was he Bill's son? Just then it clicked:

The boy from his other dream! The one whose creature from his nightmare had killed!

All he could do was sigh; _Bill, what have you signed me in for? _He thought.

"I still don't know that answer." The mentioned demon responded, making Dipper's heart skip a beat, until he remembered:

_Oh, yeah, the telepathy stuff._

* * *

**A/N: I don't know what I have done, but welp XD bye!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	37. Episode 36

**Episode 36: Moirai.  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**. . .**

Daniel never hated his body as much as he did now.

Waking up in the middle of the night was one thing – he would be able to fall asleep again easily. However, waking up in the middle of the night with an endless thirst was another completely different thing. The room's shadows danced on the wall in front of him, and the night was dead silent. Ah, how he wished he were back on his original bed, on earth, away from any imaginable danger. Kicking the sheets aside, Daniel jumped off of his bed and his eyes darted around the room until he found what he was searching for: Danna's sword, still carved on the wall. He tried to pull it off, and concluded it was stuck; after a few more tries, feeling like King Arthur himself, he managed to get it out of the wall.

_At least I will have something to protect myself with_, Daniel thought. He opened the door and tried to be as quiet and sly as possible, walking through the long corridor ahead. Everything seemed to be a potential danger: from the minimal sounds coming from outside to Daniel's own shadow. Just then, when the boy let his guard down for two seconds, he saw something in the corner of his eyes: a creature, hiding on one of the doors, its eyes staring at him intently. Within a heartbeat, Daniel dashed to the stairs and began screaming internally, holding the sword above his head and ready to attack if needed. He wasn't going easy on whatever that creature was: he was younger and unprepared for anything that involved violence, but he had a life and was _ready to die for it _(A/N: that phrase made more sense when I wrote it three days before).

He quickly entered the nearest room upon spotting the creature again; he could see it better this time: it had the same height as him, and seemed to be harmless, but you could never be sure. Whilst running, he bumped on something; a fridge. "Oh my god, I did it!" Daniel gasped, not sure if he should be relieved yet. He let his guard down for another second and lowered the sword, and then felt a hand on his shoulder, along with a hot breath on his ear.

"Hello, dearie…" The voice said. Daniel's eyes widened and he gaped, before shoving the creature aside. "Oh my gosh, Dan, you should've seen your face!"

It was Danna. He should have seen that one coming…

"What are you doing out of your bed?!" Daniel screeched, before his hands flew to his mouth – he had to be silent.

"I'd ask the same" His sister retorted.

"I was thirsty." Daniel answered, opening the fridge and grabbing a glass cup from the counter. He poured himself some water before closing the fridge again. He took a sip and leaned against a wall. "What is your excuse?"

"I just came here to tell you something very important." Danna explained as she took a deep breath. Her brother knew it couldn't be anything good, but, out of curiosity, allowed her to proceed. "…Daniel and Asaph, sitting on a tree, _K-I-S-S-I-N-G_!" She sung happily. Daniel eyed her for a second, and then everything sunk in, and he flushed hard. Danna smirked as that was the reaction that she wanted; her brother opened his mouth to speak but nothing came, although she already knew what he was going to ask. "You want to know how I found out, right? Well, long story short, I saw the way you look at him." Daniel tried to find something to retort.

"W-well, you like Dipper!" He counter-attacked.

"And you like Asaph." She replied with a slight blush, making him flush harder.

"Shh!" He hissed. What if Asaph was up and heard their conversation?!

"Ha, you admit it!" She yelled.

"I-I would never—!"

"—Date a boy?" Danna guessed. Daniel clamped his mouth shut. "Ah, but how will you know if it's bad if you never tried? Admit it, he's cute and you _know it_!" She teased. Daniel groaned and accidentally dropped the glass, breaking it.

"Shit!" He cursed, trying to fix his mistake quickly and secretly hoping nobody heard the sound of shattering glass. His wishes went unheard as the twins heard footsteps coming closer. Distracted with the sound, Daniel accidentally cut himself with a glass shard; he only noticed when he turned around and his finger was covered in blood. "Oh, shit!" He exclaimed louder. Danna turned to him and her eyes widened slightly. Finally, they spotted a silhouette on the corner of their eyes; it was Asaph. Danna visibly relaxed and then her poker face became a grin.

"Oh, man, you came just in time. Daniel and I were having a little midnight chit-chat and he's in lo—"

"**_DANN__A__ , DON'T YOU DARE_**" He said in a demoniac voice. Both Danna and Asaph's eyes widened as they eyed him with fear and surprise. They had never heard something like that before; they had heard the mentors use that kind of voice, yes, but not apprentices – not Daniel. "Oh, sorry! I don't know what just happened…" Daniel apologized. They all stood there, completely motionless, without knowing what to say. Just then Asaph looked at his finger and the mess on the floor, wondering how that had even happened on the first place.

"You're bleeding!" He said, pointing to Daniel's finger.

"Ah, it's no big deal…" The red-haired boy waved his good hand dismissively. He had to admit it _was _kind of a big deal, but he wasn't comfortable with Asaph so close to him, especially under his current… predicament.

"Of course it is!" Asaph exclaimed silently, wishing not to awake the rest of the castle. He got a Band-Aid and put it on Daniel's finger carefully. Daniel tried to avoid looking at his crush, and then saw Danna behind him, mouthing 'k-i-s-s-i-n-g'. Daniel blushed hard, accidentally thinking of him and Asaph kissing passionately; curse his mind. "Dan, are you ok? You look like this place has been set on fire." The black-haired boy poked his friend. It took five seconds before Daniel could react, and his first instinct was to scoot away from Asaph as much as he could.

"U-um, we should get back to our bedroom, heh… S-someone might wake up or something…" He then looked at the mess he had made before. "But we should clean this first…"

"And take that sword," Asaph pointed at Danna's sword, still lying around on the floor where Daniel left it; the latter was surprised to see it was still there.

"Good point."

**. . .**

_Danna fell._

_She hit the ground, but no sound was made, and she felt no pain. "Well, that's new…" She commented while standing up; everything around her was white, and there was nothing around her except for a gray door. "Oh, shit's gonna go down now…" She whispered to herself, knowing it was a dream - and not a pleasant one, apparently; surprisingly, the door opened by itself and slowly revealed what was behind it; Danna stood up and made her way to the door, curiosity getting the best of her - she stopped by the door. Three very old-looking women were sitting on three rocking chairs, each one in order. The first one, dressed in yellow clothes, was making a fine red thread that seemed to come out of nowhere – like it was made of magic; she paid no attention to Danna watching her. The second woman, dressed in blood-red clothes, was measuring the thread carefully, while not noticing the girl watching her work. The thread was very, very small, which made Danna wonder what they would use it for, seeing as it didn't seem very useful._

_And then the last one came. Dressed in blue clothes, the woman was holding a big blue pair of scissors. She slowly placed the thread __the golden-dressed woman made__ between the blades. Danna leaned a little closer in order to get a better view, as she was still standing by the door, and the woman looked up – her eyes were completely lifeless as she grinned and cut the thread into an even smaller piece. "You're not a lucky girl, are you?" She asked._

_Everything vanished._

**. . .**

Dipper yawned as he stood up from Bill's bed; and, speaking about the demon, he was gone. Pulling the sheets aside, Dipper began walking towards the stairs. Even if he had never seen that castle before, the directions were clear to him – it was like he had been there before. Once he reached the kitchen, all of the mentors and apprentices were there, eating… breakfast? Dipper was utterly confused by the scene. "Uh, what's going on here?" He asked, making the others turn to him.

"We're eating," Beatrice answered.

"Uh, I can see that, but I thought demons didn't need to eat." Dipper questioned. Bill shrugged at him, but Keehnesi seemed to be willing to give him a proper answer.

"In fact, we don't _need_ to eat, but food gives us extra energy, which we will need for today's training." He explained. "Also, it has a good taste." Danna seemed excited. After everything she had gone through last night, with that strange dream, whose meaning she knew _very well_, all she needed was some adventure to get it off of her head! She wondered what would happen today. There were so many possibilities. Perhaps some action was going to cure her from her problems… Maybe they would even disappear, right? Those voices, those thoughts… they would be gone for a few hours, only to come back with all of their strength… Well, she just had to stop thinking about that!

"So, what are we going to train today?" She asked.

"It's easy" Bill took a gulp of his coffee. "Today, kids, you're going to learn how to fly!"

* * *

**A/N: Short, but meaningful.**

**Seems like Daniel's having some inner conflicts and voice enhancements (puberty?). Danna has strange dreams about women knitting and deep thoughts. What could that all mean? Woo, cliffhanger, drama, adventures, and comedy will follow on the next chapter! **

**(1) Should Daniel just admit his feelings or wait a little more?  
(2) Do you think Asaph already knows? Does he feel the same way?  
(3) What's with Daniel's voice?  
(4) What about Danna's dream? What would it mean?  
(5) Does the eating explanation makes sense?  
(6) What's gonna happen next chapter?**

**Welp, that's it, bye!  
NOTE: I CHANGED DIPPER'S REAL NAME FROM DOMINIC TO MASON!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	38. Episode 37

**Episode 37: Accidents, revelations, drunk minors and what else?  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**. . .**

_"You fail when you don't try.__  
Not afraid to fall  
I might just learn to fly and  
I will spread these wings of mine"_

_— Superchick. Get up._

**. . .**

Daniel sighed as he flailed his arms around uselessly.

He probably looked like a chicken, running around like that, and he _knew it_. The situation was too ridiculous, but he had to learn how to summon his wings, one way or another. Asaph was also unable to summon his, but he wasn't making that much of an effort. Danna and Dipper, on the other hand, were naturals – they did it with little to no effort. Obviously, having seen Dipper fighting Lucifer before and conjuring the wings easily, it was no surprise that he could do it. Seeing his twin summon her wings without even bothering to try, however, was a big surprise. Danna wasn't that much of an expert of the whole 'demon powers' thing, and yet there she stood, proudly showing her white wings for the whole Nightmare Realm to see.

Dan couldn't say he wasn't jealous of his sister, and neither could Asaph. He was a little less frustrated, though, as he simply sat on the floor and patiently watched Daniel squirming (as they were now in the room in which he had the battle with Archimicarus). He had to admit it was kind of cute. Daniel was perhaps overworking himself and his utter and apparent frustration made everything even cuter. Asaph laughed to himself internally; Daniel _did_ look like a chicken, but no chicken made him laugh like him. "Are you going to stare at me all day? It's embarrassing." Daniel said as soon as he noticed his friend's stare. Asaph chuckled.

"Aw, come on, keep going. You're adorable like this." He cooed with a slight smile. Daniel's eyes widened as he flushed lightly. He could feel his heart rushing and his back burning… wait, what? He hadn't felt his back burning before… That wasn't norm— that was the only thing he could think of when his wings ripped through his shirt and, with the surprise _and _the wing's weight, Dan fell to the floor face-first. Asaph couldn't hide his surprise and excitement, but he was confused as to why Daniel's wings sprouted after he had just 'complimented' him. "Whoa, Dan, how did you do that?" At the corner of his eyes, Asaph could see Bill walking towards them.

"Good job, Crimson. Guide Book, try harder." He said. Asaph shrugged. He wasn't really interested in growing wings anytime soon, and he didn't know how to do it anyway. Perhaps he could ask Danna about it later. "Also, I overheard your question, kid. And, to be fair, a demon's wings can sprout when they have rushes of adrenaline, which means Crimson here got very excited when you said he was ad—" Daniel gasped and hastily stood up; he was really hoping Asaph hadn't understood anything, or else he was totally screwed.

"BILL, SHUT YOUR FACE!" He yelled, with his face red from both having it smashed against the floor and his utter embarrassment. Bill laughed soundly.

"Whatever you say, but hear my words, Crimson; the more you stall, the worse it ge-ets!" He sung cheerfully before teleporting away. Asaph was very confused by the demon's words, but decided not to stress over it; maybe he could ask Daniel about it later. Asaph focused on his own case; he had to summon his wings. What had Bill said? Rushes of adrenaline, huh? Maybe he could find a way to get his heart to hammer in his chest. Daniel was busy admiring his new wings and Danna was trying to fly with hers, while Dipper wasn't doing anything. _Perfect_.

"Hey, Dip," Asaph approached him; he was probably too sneaky, though, because when he said that, Dipper let out a loud, girlish squeal and then realized what he had done and blushed. "Um, anyways, I need you to attack me!"

"Don't scare me like that. I don't- wait, you want me to do what?" Dipper asked, still slightly embarrassed about the incident, as wasn't sure if he heard that right. He just hoped Asaph would forget it in a few minutes. "Why would I attack you?"

"When one is in a heated battle, their heart beats faster due to the adrenaline and the wish to win. Mentor Bill said that demons can get their wings by rushes of adrenaline, therefore if you attack me my heart will hammer very fast in my chest and perhaps I will be able to summon my wings." He explained. Hopefully that would convince Dipper to help him with his predicament. Usually he would also ask the twins for help but he wasn't sure if Daniel, with his 'good samaritan' nature, and Danna, with her terrible aim, would be able to help in any way. Dipper, who had attacked the devil himself, though, was perfect for the role.

"Well, that makes sense—" Dipper started, just as he saw something coming at his direction with the corner of his eye. He only had time to turn around as Danna bumped with him, her wings spread open, and both of them stumbled to the ground clumsily; strangely enough, it didn't hurt as much as they thought it would.

"Oi, I heard your conversation." She butted in casually, although still on top of Dipper. While she didn't seem to be bothered, the apprentice under her was struggling to free himself from her weight. "He's lying, Dipper. He doesn't want you to attack him because he wants to get his wings." Asaph raised an eyebrow as he stared at Danna in the eyes, and he could see a spark of mischief in there. She was up to something, and it probably wasn't good. It's not like Danna hadn't lied or twisted another person's words for her own amusement before; she had once convinced the police that one man tried to eat a whole watermelon, before, after all. That was quite an interesting day. Asaph raised an amused eyebrow; if Danna wanted to play like that, then he would play along.

"Then, why would I need him to attack me?" He asked, trying to hide his grin and keep a serious composure. Danna's smirk grew even more.

"Because you're a masochist," She answered, proud of herself for creating such a lie with little time to think of it. What she didn't expect was for her victim to actually _join _her little show.

"Oh, no, my secret has been discovered!" Asaph said dramatically while falling to the floor, with a hand on his forehead. He then saw Daniel heading their way – he noticed the commotion happening and decided it was more interesting than his new wings. Asaph could no longer hide his smirk; perhaps he could mess with his friends a little bit. When Daniel was finally within his reach, and very confused as to why his friend was lying on the floor, Asaph stood on a sitting position and grabbed his shirt, with puppy eyes, while pleading: "Oh, Daniel! I shall be punished by my actions!" He said, while bowing his head down, trying not to laugh out loud. "Please, _master_, punish me!" Dipper was dumbfounded, Danna was laughing her ass off and Daniel was redder than his own hair.

"ASAPH WHAT THE HE—" He was ready to question Asaph's actions until Danna teleported to behind him ("SHE CAN FUCKING _TELEPORT_?!" He yelled after lying down to go to sleep, realization hitting him _seventeen_ hours later) and, with all of her might and strength, pushed him. Daniel gasped in surprise and fell forward, unable to maintain his balance. Asaph never saw it coming, but he was fairly confused as soon as he saw Daniel on top of him; any bystander that looked at them would probably think that the red-haired boy was pinning him down – like in the good old yaoi mangas – because that's what it _looked like_.

Asaph didn't have time to protest as his wings made their way out of the fabric of his shirt. He was slightly surprised that he was excited that one of his friends was pinning him to the ground and— wait, what the hell was he thinking? He didn't really know what the mentors put in their food, but they had better give him some answers or else… Daniel's wings had been extended to their full wingspan. None of the four apprentices moved, watching everything unfold carefully. The silence was sliced by Danna as she realized what had happened to her brother. "Oh my god, is that a _wing boner_, bro?!" She laughed loudly.

"IT'S NOT A WING BONER!" Daniel roared, completely ashamed and red. "G-get down, stupid wings! Dammit!" He cursed loudly, trying to get his wings down. Asaph would face-palm if he wasn't… ahem, restrained…

"Um, Dan, could you, uh, move, please?" He asked. Daniel was going to question him for a second until it hit him. _Oh, god, this day can't get worse,_ he thought. Daniel stood up and awkwardly extended a hand for Asaph, who gladly accepted his help. They stood like that for a while, none of them saying a word. Asaph wanted anything to happen, even if it was a war; he didn't care, he just hated that strange silence luring around, until he decided to take the first step. "Um, well, I got my wings. That was an interesting experience." He turned to Dipper. "Guess you don't have to attack me after all." Dipper was still pondering about everything in silence and shock; he didn't know what he was watching and what he had just gone through, but it had been the weirdest experience of his life by now.

"I don't know what to say." He murmured, although everyone heard.

"Welp, me neither." Daniel shrugged. "I'm the one who should be complaining. My sister just tackled me against Asaph, and he called me m-_master_. I hope this is a dream." He whispered the last part. Danna smirked as she teleported to his side – once again – causing him to shriek in surprise. He didn't remember she could move that fast; Danna was never a sports girl; she hated all sports, to be fair, except for dodgeball, because she had a chance to hit people in the face with balls ("what's better than that?" she asked with a grin to the director after sending a boy to the hospital with her abnormal demon strength and now has one more restraining order to add to her collection).

"A dream you don't want to wake up from." She completed with a giggle. Daniel shot her his most murderous glare, eyes literally flaring red.

"SHUT YOUR FACE, DANNA!"

**. . .**

"Bill" Keehnesi walked up to his brother. Ever since breakfast their apprentices had been acting rather… strange. Not the normal strange but the _'strange'_ strange. ", what did you put in their drinks?" Bill shot him an offended glare, but he was smirking inside, and Keehnesi could see that; not only because he could read minds (images included), but because it wasn't hard to figure out his younger brother was responsible for half the tragedies that had happened that month. He threatened his apprentice and mentally tortured and violated him for a while; luckily he stopped doing that, but Keehnesi could understand why Dipper suddenly appeared in his room with a knife – well, he couldn't, really, but if _those_ were the reasons, then he had the right to try and stab Bill at least once (even if the yellow demon wouldn't be affected by it).

"_What? _How DARE you accuse me, brother?" Bill said, in the saddest voice he could muster. "I'll let you know, I did nothing!" Still, his lips curved into a smirk. Keehnesi was going to protest when Beatrice walked up to him, unable to keep the grin off of her face. The pink-haired demon paled, and then realized what was going on. "I mean, I didn't do anything _without _any help." Keehnesi shot his older sister a betrayed and angered look. How dare she? Bea was supposed to help him keep the beast that was his brother in line! And those little demons too, but she just had to backstab him while he wasn't looking…

"Bea, why?!" He questioned.

"They clearly need some fun, Keeh," Beatrice answered. "Look at them." Keehnesi turned around and saw the children. Daniel was blushing and lashing on Danna whilst on top of Asaph, who had a poker face; the female twin was laughing madly and Dipper was probably uncomfortable (it was very understandable). "After all they went through, they need some chilling. Besides, it's their first lesson in _hell_, let them forget this fact for a day, ok?" She sighed. Keehnesi huffed loudly but nodded; he had to agree. The children's minds were probably still trying to understand everything, and he respected that, but…

"Did you really have to make them _drunk _to make them have fun?" Bea shrugged. Keehnesi sighed. "Beatrice, they are minors, they can't drink beer!"

"It was Bill's idea." She pointed out, while the golden demon's grin grew wider.

"Chill, brother, I just put a few drops on their drinks. Something to make them more lightheaded and to lose their inhibition." Bill explained. "I'm pretty sure that if I put the whole thing, they'd have already died. That beer is too strong even for demons, after all." Keehnesi couldn't say he thought his heart (if he physically had one) would stop at that very moment as he spun around to look at the children. They were still alive – luckily – but very, very unlike themselves. "Although that isn't going to make the lesson easier, is it?" The three of them eyed each other. The apprentices wouldn't be able to absorb the information if they weren't listening at all. "I may have made poor choices…" Bill murmured, although he was still proud.

"_May_?" Keehnesi repeated between gritted teeth. "Let's just go back."

**. . .**

"Alright, kids!" Bill called as soon as the apprentices decided to forget these… unfortunate _accidents_… "You may have gotten your wings, but that wasn't the _hard_ and _thrilling_ part yet!" He said. "We're just getting started. We need to teach you all how to fly now." Danna was very excited, Daniel was apprehensive, Asaph was neutral and Dipper was curious. Daniel's eyes darted to his wings, eyeing them hesitantly; maybe he was scared, and it was normal. Most half-human apprentices feared heights, because they were part human and could still die. "It's okay to be scared, but I'll mock you about it later."

"Oh, hell, no!" Danna smirked, putting one arm around her twin's shoulder. "Come on, bro, let's show him how to fly!" Daniel sighed.

"We're all gonna die." Beatrice shrugged at her apprentice.

"Maybe; you can fall from a tall place and not be able to fly, but that's not the point."

"Wait, what?"

**. . .**

They were outside.

Keehnesi explained how it was easier if they had an open space rather than staying on a dome all day. Beatrice had found a nice clearing away from the town, and it had lots of trees all around so they had somewhere to jump from (and probably break some bones in the process). Danna was already in the process of climbing a tree with her brother on her tail. Asaph was trying to get himself off the ground by flapping his wings only, without climbing anything. Dipper was divided; should he do the same as Asaph or the twins? He had to weight the pros and cons on this one.

Suddenly, Danna jumped from the nearest branch. She had her wings spread open and was floating. She tried flapping them but it was no use; soon enough, she found herself falling and bumping on Asaph, who lost his concentration and stumbled alongside the red-haired girl. Beatrice watched everything whilst trying to stifle her laughter, Bill was snickering and Keehnesi watched everything with a bland face. "Can't say I didn't cringe," he commented. Daniel groaned.

"Neither can we."

* * *

**A/N: And here I am again~**

**I'm feeling motivated today. I couldn't sleep so I woke up at 5:55 am to play some pokemon and hatch some eggs and holy shit, a shiny froakie! Bless you, Masuda Method! He has gentle nature, great special defense and HP, and is now an amazing black Greninja named Gaara ^^ Anyway, back into the story. So, the apprentices are learning how to fly, huh? Expect lots of shenanigans. Also, Bill thought it'd be a good idea to make the children drunk and force them into having some fun. Because that's how you make your children have fun; make 'em drunk. Anyway, onto the questions:**

**(1) Why would Bill even think making the apprentices drunk was a good idea? (oh boy there's one thousand answers to this one)  
(2) Asaph would make the best slave? (why am i even asking that nevermind that question)  
(3) What's gonna happen the next chapter? Will they be able to fly?**

**I'm lacking creativity for questions, so that'll be all for today. Anyway, bye!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	39. Episode 38

**Episode 38: D of determination and doubt.  
Arc: "Forgotten Princes"  
Opening: Soul Eater – Opening (1).**

**. . .**

_"Chin Up!  
Don't bet on sinking ships because they'll turn your chips to trash.  
You've got to set your sights and hopes on setting not to crash.  
The truth can seem quite bleak if you don't make your plans unfurl.  
But I would not let that mar my opinion of the world."_

_— Fimflamfilosophy. Sinking Ships._

**. . .**

Keehnesi was at verge of completely throwing his hands in the air in pure frustration and giving up.

They had been there for about one hour and in the meantime all the apprentices managed to do was crash, hover and injure themselves and each other simultaneously. At first, it was slightly funny, then it passed from funny to hilarious, but then everything escalated from laughter to almost serious injuries. "Humans are so fragile that it has become very pathetic," Bill commented while looking at his nails nonchalantly. "I mean, one fall from a building and they die with a 'sploft'; man, isn't that crazy? I mean, to us, it's like falling from bed or something." He kept on ranting. Beatrice had been watching everything with a poker face before going to her brother.

"Keeh, I really think we should find another teaching method before anything else happens," she suggested, pointing to the children. In that exact moment, Danna had managed to climb one of the tallest trees in the clearing and had now thrown herself from it; she tried to open her wings, but with the wind clashing against them, she was unable to do so; Danna sighed and went limp while waiting for the fall, not even bothering to move, crossing her arms with a poker face. "Holy shit!" Beatrice cursed before summoning her own wings and flying up to her apprentice with an abnormal speed, catching her just in time. "What the heck were you thinking, Danna?"

"Well, at first I thought 'fuck this shit, I can't do this' and was going to give up like the loser I am but then I had an idea that if I went higher I would have more time to open my wings and with the height I would be more prone to fly in more time, besides the speed would help me as well, although I did not plan it through because with the gravity and the air I would probably be thrown up like a parachute." She explained, while looking downcast, before staring at her mentor in the eyes. Beatrice was gaping; she had never imagined Danna would have thought of such a complicated plan. "I mean, it was risk it for the biscuit, so it was either try and succeed or die, right?"

"Danna, how did you think of that?" Beatrice asked, while landing on the grass, putting her apprentice down. "Your plan of the height and all, it's just so—"

"—complicated?" Danna finished with a slight grin. "You might not believe it, but I was the top student when it came to mathematics and physics," she informed with a light blush, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "I suck at the rest, though. I also usually hide that ability so I can rub it in people's faces later." Beatrice couldn't help but roll her eyes at that last part; she didn't expect anything else from Danna, but was very proud of her as well. Beatrice was still a little shook up with the events, and then asked Danna one more question:

"Why didn't you try to teleport, or at least avoid hitting the floor? Don't try to fool me, I know you can teleport." Danna's smirk grew at this, and Bea could barely believe in her answer:

"I knew you would catch me."

**. . .**

Dipper simply could not understand.

During the first two times he ever flew, it was natural, but now he felt like a complete failure. On the battle with the wyvern, Dipper had managed to prevent his body from colliding against a field of poisonous flowers easily; on the battle with Lucifer, it took him a ton of effort, but he had gotten off the ground – mostly due to the adrenaline, but still… And now, he could barely get a few centimeters off the ground. He thought it was a joke at first, but it wasn't; he had simply lost his ability to fly, and he had tried everything; now, he was simply sitting in the middle of the field, pretending to be thinking, but he was really sulking and pondering over what would have caused the loss of his skill. Was it because Lucifer had hit one of his wings during that battle?

"Alright, I waited enough!" Bill whined, startling Keehnesi. His patience had gone dry – he would no longer wait until one of the apprentices finally showed their true talent by flying, he had to act _now_; none of his siblings realized that all they needed was a little _push_. The golden-eyed demon walked up to his apprentice. "Pine Tree, what's the matter? You did great during the battle with Lucifer, what's going on now?" Dipper shrunk half his size. "Come on, Pine Tree; let's show these peasants how to fly." He said with an almost reassuring smile, trying to cheer the boy up. He grabbed Dipper before the younger demon could protest, arms around his small body, pressing him against his chest. "Hang on, kid, and don't look down," Dipper opened his mouth to ask what Bill was talking about, but it was too late now.

"You're going to fly like you did back in that battlefield, whether you like it or not,"

Bill spread his wings open and, flapping them as hard as he could, they both took off in the sky. Dipper's eyes widened as he clung to Bill because his life _did _depend on it. When they seemed to have stopped going up, Dipper looked down and immediately regretted having done that: they were higher than he would ever expect; the other apprentices and mentors were small dots, and the landscape was like a giant house toy for a child to play with. "Bill, put me down! I'm going to fall!" He pleaded, panicking. He wasn't ready for this, he wasn't ready for _anything_. It could have been his imagination, but Dipper felt the slight sensation of Bill's hold lessening on him.

"Exactly"

"What?!"

And Bill simply _let him go_.

Dipper felt his heart stopping – it was like he could die there and then, but that was at brink of happening since he was almost fainting. "Nu-uh, Pine Tree, don't pass out just yet," came a playful scold from his side; looking at his left, Dipper saw Bill falling alongside him, wings closed, and seemingly very relaxed. He was resting his head on his arms, crossing his legs like he was lying on a bed and that was really bothering Dipper – how could Bill be so relaxed? They were falling! "The fun's just starting," he sung, before opening his wings once again and flying to under Dipper, abruptly stopping the latter's fall. "I'm going to re-teach you like a bird teaches its offspring, okay?"

"W-what?" Dipper asked, still not understanding. Bill rolled his eyes.

"I'm letting you go, in three…"

"No, Bill, don't you dare!"

"Two…"

"I swear I can't do it…!"

"One!"

Dipper stiffened, but nothing happened. Then, laughter came. He was still on top of Bill, clinging to him and trembling with fear. "This isn't funny!" He yelled, flushing with embarrassment; he couldn't believe it. He was supposed to be flying by now, but with his fears in the way, he couldn't even concentrate properly.

"Sorry, Pine Tree, this is kind of _very _pathetic." Bill snickered, patting Dipper's head softly. "Don't worry, let's start again, and I'll do things correctly this time." He spun around, still holding Dipper, so now he was on top and Dipper was under him. The only thing the apprentice could do to avoid having another panic attack was hold Bill's arms, but that wasn't really helping at all. "So, first of all, flying is about _concentration_ and I'm sure you already know about that, but what you _don't _know is that you can't concentrate when you're having a stroke. So empty your mind, Pine Tree; just like during our first lesson: close your eyes, take a deep breath and don't think of anything." Dipper inhaled deeply before closing his eyes and letting his mind go blank.

"Great, now open your wings slowly. I'll be holding you with my psychic abilities, so don't worry." Dipper didn't want to trust Bill – he _couldn't _– but he had to. They were literally five hundred feet above the ground; if he wanted to keep living, he had to trust his mentor. Bill slowly let him go, but Dipper felt the strength of his telekinesis holding him in place. Dipper let the air in his lungs go and focused on his wings; he opened them slowly; any sudden movements would ruin his concentration completely. After only a few seconds, his wings were already spread open. "Okay, you can open your eyes now," Dipper complied, looking up.

His wings were perhaps as big as Bill's (just a few centimeters smaller, though), and Dipper didn't know if he should be worried or not. Keehnesi had told him how that could affect his flying, and so far he was only being held by Bill's psychic abilities, blue aura surrounding his body and all, so Dipper didn't know how his skills in flying were at that point. "I'm going to let you go slowly. Don't panic; just flap your wings when you feel you are losing height; your wings are big enough to that you can hover for a long time; are you ready?" Dipper bit the inside of his mouth and nodded. "I want a vocal answer, Pine Tree." Bill demanded; Dipper had never seen him so serious before – it was almost astounding, but if he expected to make out of that lesson alive, he had to do what was asked of him.

"I'm ready."

"Alright, then; shall I count to three?" Bill suggested, but Dipper just shook his head with a daring smile on his face. "You're brave, Pine Tree. Hopefully that won't get you killed one day." And with that said, he let his apprentice go. Dipper slowly began to lose height, and luckily he had paid attention to what Bill had said; when he was considerably lower than Bill, he flapped his wings twice and was now right under him. Bill felt a rush of pride running over him; Dipper was a fast learner, and now he had regained his ability to fly. Meanwhile, Dipper also felt some pride mixed with fear and bathed in agony. He was more than five hundred feet above the floor – one wrong move and he was as good as dead.

"Can we go a little lower?" He practically begged; Bill could notice his insecurity.

"Don't you think it's time to challenge yourself, Dipper?" The boy shivered upon being called by his name instead of the usual nickname 'Pine Tree'. He was already aware of the fact that, if Bill called him by his name instead of the one he had settled for him, it was trouble; however, there was no harshness or scolding in Bill's voice, it was very soft, almost indulging him to do it. Dipper bit his lip and shook his head, murmuring a soft 'not today'; the older demon wondered what could have caused Dipper's sudden mood change; unfortunately, the boy's mind seemingly locked itself, forcing Bill out. "Okay, then, let's get down," Dipper nodded.

He already knew how to do it, _or so he thought_. While lowering himself down, he had lost speed (luckily) _and_ completely control of himself, cue him ending up bumping against a tree and gaining a headache (and also a concussion, most likely). Bill tried not to laugh at him but failed; well, the next lesson would be about how to land properly. While they were gone, Beatrice had helped Danna with her flying while Asaph and Daniel decided to engage in a conversation about everything that had been happening in the past few days. "I mean, one year ago I was worrying about having to pass my math test and now I have to worry about being able to fly!" Daniel complained. "How crazy is that?!" He added with a grunt.

"Life's always changing, you know?" Asaph shrugged. "We just have to get over it," he replied as a smile made its way to his face. Daniel nodded, facing away and tried to hide the slight blush on his cheeks. "You're doing that again."

"Huh?"

"Avoiding eye contact," Asaph clarified.

"Oh…" Daniel leaned against the tree behind him. "Sorry about that, Aph. I've been pretty weirded out lately… This whole fiasco around us… It still hasn't hit me, y'know? Maybe a few days later I'll wake up and say 'oh, shit, I'm in hell', but, right now, I'm trying to distract myself from it all and convince myself that I won't stay here for long." He explained. "Hopefully I'm right," Asaph snorted at that last sentence, unwillingly making Daniel laugh as well.

"I'm flying!" The two heard the shout coming from above them and barely had time to look back before a red blur rushed past them. Daniel gaped as he watched his twin soar in front of him. "I did it, bro, I can fly!" Danna squealed in excitement. "It's so easy! Come on, I'll teach you how to do it! Follow me!" And with that, she took off running. Daniel had never been as surprised as he was now. Asaph too seemed very confused, but mostly amused, as he watched Danna run towards the center of the field. Daniel still felt a little hesitant about accepting his sister's offer, but perhaps he should? Danna wasn't a great teacher, except when it came to things she liked; would she feel offended if he asked for Beatrice's help instead? She was the one who taught his twin how to fly, after all.

"The only time I have seen Danna this happy was after she blew our school's cafeteria and forced everyone to go home for the day." Daniel whispered to Asaph as the memories sent a chill down his spine. "There was meat everywhere; in the tables, the wall, the ceiling and on the students and teachers too. I still have the chills remembering her smirk…" He commented afterwards, watching his sister. "Honestly, it's creeping me out…" Asaph looked at Danna, who was now flying around while still being within arms' reach, and then back at his friend.

"She seems happy," he said.

"That's never a good thing," Daniel responded.

"What it if is now?" Asaph questioned, while his friend narrowed his eyes at him. What did he mean? "She isn't harming anyone _yet_. It's not like her usual pranks where the whole town goes array, Dan; she's just happy to be able to fly." Daniel shot him a glare.

"Are you aware that, with her new flying abilities, she can do _even more_ harmful stuff?" He questioned. Asaph froze for a few seconds.

"You're right, forget about everything I said." He leaned against the tree as well. "Well, how about we do it by ourselves, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll help you fly and you'll help me." Asaph explained. "How does that sound?" Daniel bit his lip and nodded, while they both stood up.

"I'm not sure about that, though..."

"Are you _scared_?"

"Oh, _now_ it's personal."

**. . .**

"What the hell are they doing?" Keehnesi questioned Beatrice while she watched both his apprentice and her own, but all she did was shrug while still staring with interest. Asaph and Daniel were running as fast as they could to see who would be able to fly first; Daniel was the one who failed the most, often tripping and not being able to hover not even once, which always ended up with him falling face-first on the floor. Asaph was almost reaching his friend's level, but he was able to stay in the air for a few seconds before not being able to hold onto his weight any longer. "They're going to get badly hurt if they carry on with this."

"Pain equals learning." Beatrice retorted, crossing her arms.

"No, it does not; pain equals _pain_." Keehnesi gritted his teeth at her. Suddenly, without any previous warning, his sister slapped him; it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would, but the place where she slapped him stung for a few seconds. Keehnesi gaped, one of his hands touching his cheek – where she slapped him – before his shock and disbelief became anger. "What the fuck did you do that for?!" He yelled.

"What did you learn?" Beatrice asked.

"That you're a bitch to everyone who disagrees with you," he growled, rubbing his cheek.

"See? I was right: you can learn with pain."

"How hilarious," he commented, voice dripping with sarcasm. Not wanting to rant about the subject anymore, they both turned to watch their apprentices. Surprisingly enough, whilst their argument was still going, Asaph seemed to have gotten the hang of flying. He was three feet away from the ground and flapping his wings constantly but still in the perfect rhythm; the cheerfulness in his face was very apparent, and Asaph did not bother to hide it; Keehnesi was proud – his apprentice had learned how to do his first lesson by himself, without any help from him or any other mentor or apprentice. Daniel bit his lip in distress, sadness and visible jealousy, turning his face away; everyone had learned how to fly but him. Asaph quickly noticed this as he grabbed Daniel's hand and began pulling him across the forest.

"Hey, what are you doing?" His friend questioned, trying to get Asaph to run slower – he was being dragged like a ragdoll and that was one of the worst comparisons he ever had to make.

"We're going to get you how to fly, and we'll do it where no one can bother us." The other explained.

"We're going to get lost!" Daniel complained.

"If our mentors really care about their apprentices, they'll search for us later. Otherwise, we'd already be rotting in Lucifer's hands." Asaph replied, and the redhead did not say a word afterwards. After a few seconds of searching, they ended up in another clearing, very similar to the one they were before, albeit smaller. "This place is perfect." And with that said, he turned to Daniel. "I know you're a little disappointed for being the only one who hasn't learned how to fly yet, so I am going to help you. I'll admit I haven't mastered this skill myself, so it'll be a lesson for both of us." Daniel sighed and leaned against one of the trees, looking downcast and crossing his arms. Why did he even bother? In fact, why did Asaph, one of the coolest guys he knew, bothered even trying to maintain that stupid friendship of theirs? "Daniel, is everything okay? You look a little down," Asaph asked, patting his shoulder, but Daniel simply slapped his hand away.

"I'm fine," he answered while gritting his teeth.

"No, you're not," Asaph said firmly. "You never act like this unless something's up. You're sulking, too. You can tell me anything, Dan, and you know it."

"It's just…" Daniel trailed off, sliding to the floor, hitting his head against the tree's bark. The pain that followed subsided in a matter of seconds. "Why do you even bother? You're, like, a child prodigy – you even learned how to fly by yourself and I'm sure you've read War and Peace in a few days! And here I am, just a bland and flavorless kid whose only talent is to fuck everything up and be an idiot!" He did not expect any tears to follow, but they did. Daniel tried his best to hide them, but it was useless; he bit his lip and stopped Asaph from speaking once he continued his self-deprecating speech. "I've always wondered how you could even attempt to be friends with such a failure like me."

Asaph was left speechless.

"Dan, we may not have been friends for years and years like most people, but I am more than sure that I know you a lot, maybe more than you do yourself, and I can say without a doubt that you're not a failure," he sat next to his friend. "Look at how far we have come, how far we have reached. You're my best friend; hell, my life would have been incredibly senseless without you – you're the voice of our group, Dan. Danna would have done worse things if you weren't there, I'm sure." He elbowed his friend playfully; still, Daniel didn't seem to have cheered up.

"When I was young, I was just an average boy; just an average John in a house of Alessandas, Mathias, Cassiopeias, Roccos, Neemas, Omaris and Tajs. Yes, those were the names that my uncles and aunts named their children and some of these were their own names as well; luckily my parents had some more sense, but with my bland name came my bland personality as well. After a few years of study I noticed how most names given to my cousins affected their personalities somehow. One of them, Cassiopeia, was an astronomy fanatic – always talking about stars and constellations during family reunions; Rocco, Cassiopeia's older brother, joined a rock band and was never seen again – he occasionally sends my uncle and aunt some letters, but that's it; those are only two stories amongst all of them. My mother loves to tell my aunts, uncles and cousins about Danna's actions, and, despite always reprimanding her about them, I can feel a certain tone of _pride _in her voice, because at least one of her children is exotic in her own way; what about me? What about her son, Daniel, the bland one? The black sheep? The John Smith of the family?" Daniel seemed to have shrunk half of his size. "I wish I were another person."

Silence…

"Don't ever say that again!" His friend howled at his side, and Daniel jumped in surprise. Suddenly, Asaph kneeled in front of him, holding his shoulders in a vicious grip, and it hurt. "Daniel, you have such a unique personality; you manage to keep your patience in so many situations, and how you look after Danna – I can barely imagine how Danna would be without you looking after her; surely she would be in jail already! You're always looking out for everyone and trying to get everyone in line… And, besides, you're such a good friend – you're the person I always dreamed to be, but never managed to…" Asaph let him go, with his hands moving to his lap as he looked down. "I should be the one saying I'm a failure, not you."

"Well, isn't this a great pity party?" Daniel asked jokingly.

"You're the one who started it," Asaph answered with a grin, before looking up. "The sky is already darkening. For how long have we been here?"

"I don't think I have the answer to this question." Daniel replied. "But, Asaph, why did you say you were a failure? You're so intelligent and—"

"Dan, intelligence has nothing to do with one's life. Intellect, or lack thereof, may affect a person's life greatly, but it's not all there is to gain. Social skills, dedication, willpower, personality traits, self-control and so many more: all of these might and will determine your future." Asaph stood up before sitting next to his friend and leaning against him; luckily, he wasn't looking at the redhead's face, as Daniel was blushing madly, his heart hammering. "Out of all of these traits, intelligence may be the only one I have; everything else is out of reach for me." He completed with a sigh, while Daniel fidgeted where he stood. Suddenly what was supposed to be a game for fun had turned into a share of tragedies and inner thoughts.

"What if it isn't?" He suddenly asked.

"Mm?" Asaph murmured, barely listening; he had spaced out for a second and Daniel had pulled him back to reality.

"If we try hard enough we might change those traits; add some, lose others, the whole drill. I've seen Danna do it before, so that means we can do it as well." The redhead explained, before realizing what he had said and perhaps it was too late to try and fix his mistake, so he had better started explaining before any questioning followed. "You're probably not going to believe me but it's worth a shot. When we were young, both Danna and I were very shy, but she had _somehow_ reached the _supreme level_ of social awkwardness. We could barely go out in public before she had some sort of panic attack, and hated being the center of attention; strangely enough, nowadays it's the complete opposite, since Danna loves being on the spotlight. Anyway, our parents took us to different psychologists, since both refused to attend us together, so we could get over that fear, and, to Danna, that was a miracle."

"A miracle?" Asaph raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"That's how I perceived it at the time. After just three – or even less – sessions, she was completely different. More outgoing, making friends and foes wherever she went, always trying to be heard… It was a 180-degree turn for the whole family; some members who have seen us a few months before were shocked upon seeing her, but they looked at me and nothing changed at all. In fact, it did change: before, I was timid and very awkward, which was seen as cute, but as I lost my shyness, all that was part of me was just… _gone_, and so, I became vacant and bland." Daniel revealed, looking at his hands, wondering why they were so sweaty, attempting to decipher his body. "My cousins loved to bully me because of this, giving me those stupid nicknames… Flavorless, Bland, Vanilla, Dull and my personal favorite, _Hollow_."

"No offense, Dan, but some of your family members sound like assholes." Asaph tried to calm himself down; what kind of cousins would ever do that? Although he never had any, so Asaph didn't have anything to compare except for his sister.

"They are, but I can't bring myself to complain to my parents about them. I don't feel right, it's not like me, you know? But, in the end, I'm happy I've talked to you; I feel better." Daniel was wishing so hard that this conversation would end there and, to his surprise, Asaph said nothing; he simply stood up and cleaned his jeans.

"So do I, Dan. Maybe all we needed was some therapy with each other. Tomorrow I'll help you with your flying; no matter how long it takes, we won't give up. I guess we have to go back now." He said, extending a hand to help his friend up. Daniel dithered slightly before accepting Asaph's help. Because he didn't know where they were, all Daniel had to do was follow Asaph, but as soon as the black-haired boy's eyes darted around the clearing in visible confusion, his soul received a bath of worry. Asaph turned to him, a little embarrassed but trying very hard to hide it. "Okay, so… Where's the exit?" Daniel gaped.

"You have to be kidding me, Aph."

* * *

**A/N: I am back, my dearies~**

**First of all, I'll notify you that I won't be doing a whole series about the Nightmare Realm, which means I won't write all the lessons they had; I'll describe them, but write a whole chapter about every. Single. Damn. Lesson would take forever, and I'm not immortal, and neither are you guys (p.s.: if you are [I'm talking to you, Ash Ketchum], tell me your secret). Second, I won't post anything for a few days, because my final tests are coming and I'm studying for them; in fact, I had just finished studying for chemistry when I wrote the end for this chapter. And, speaking about this chapter, warning (for those who read the AN first, which I doubt): emotional drama because I can. I seriously think about adding a little more to every character's personality in a few chapters might help with character development and, as we see here, Dan has some serious confidence issues, man. They were _kinda_ based on my issues too (don't worry, I have no cousins who bully me for it. Well, one of them bullied me, yes, but for entirely different reasons), but I got over them so yay :P **

**BTW, I made this chapter longer to compensate for the other chapters, but don't think I added random stuff because I wanted to make it longer; I didn't plan the length, but I just added some things I wanted to add on the next chapter into this one, kay? So, here are the questions:**

**(1) So, did the lesson go as you expected?  
(2) How did you feel about Bill's, ahem, _innovative_ method of teaching?  
(3) Is Bea right? Does pain = learning?  
(4) "I was seriously expecting some kisses/love confession or something, Niwana"? (sorry if you did XD)  
(5) Danna was shy? And she's also good at physics and mathematics? Well, didja expect that?  
(6) Donald Trump won? (*still in denial*)**

**Anyway, those are the questions for today :v I'm also seriously reconsidering re-writing 'Child of Cipher', what do you guys think? (probably when I finish Cipher Secret, aka never).**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	40. Episode 39

**Episode 39: Seeking answers.  
Arc: "The Arc of Ciphers"  
Opening: Core Pride — UVERworld.**

**. . .**

"There you are," Beatrice rolled her eyes upon stumbling on Asaph and Daniel trying to find their way through the forest. She was wondering where they could've gone and luckily managed to find them before any harm came upon the two. "Come, follow me, the others are waiting. Don't dawdle around or you'll be left alone here." She told them but did not wait for an answer before making her way back to the castle. Daniel bit his lip as he looked down; the forest was definitely scarier now that the 'sun' (as he was not sure whether it was a real sun or not) had hidden itself behind the trees that loomed over them. There was no 'moon' either and thus, no moonlight to brighten up their path; perhaps full-blooded demons could have night vision – it was the only plausible explanation as to why Beatrice hadn't tripped, not even once, whilst the forest made him feel like the clumsiest person to ever exist; Asaph was the only person to prevent his fateful and unfortunate encounter with the ground. On the other side of the coin, Asaph didn't mind the darkness as much as his friend – he had gotten used to it from all of the time he spent locked inside of that dark room his sister made specially for him.

"Hang on a second." Daniel protested as he stopped walking completely; cue Asaph and Beatrice shooting him curious glances. "Just a few minutes ago it was morning, so how come night came so fast? What time is it now?" Beatrice pondered on the answer for a second before resuming on her walking; Asaph and Daniel followed right behind her. She knew the question would come eventually; the Nightmare Realm was quite the curious place, after all, and, being used to the real world, she was sure the apprentices would not easily get used to the continuously changing times.

"It's around eleven or twelve in the morning, right now." She finally responded, while both Daniel and Asaph stared at her in doubt, as if she was trying to mess with their minds for her own amusement; oh, come on, who did they think she was, Bill? "No, really, it is. The time in the Nightmare Realm is very inconsistent; sometimes the night is longer than the day; one example is the one right now. In some rare cases, the night never comes at all, and the sun blesses us with its grace all day long; it's hard to get used to it, but we were raised like this, so it may be easier for us to understand." Asaph nodded, very interest in the concept, while Daniel just couldn't wrap his head around it at all. "You may get familiar with this after a week, but, for now, let's forget about that." Beatrice added once the castle was within their view.

When they finally encountered Danna and Dipper, both of them still with their wings, the two children allowed themselves to relax for a second – perhaps their day hadn't gone so bad, after all; they both could let their emotions out and, well, Daniel still had a whole month to be able to fly. He would start practicing tomorrow, and wouldn't stop until he made some progress – it wasn't a promise, it was a _challenge_.

**. . .**

"Tell me, Danna," Dipper started, looking at one of his wings' feathers on his hand, making Danna look at him. At first, he had barely noticed the feather on the floor, but it was clearly his, seeing as it was not only completely black but slightly larger than Danna's as well. "Why are your wings completely white but mine are bicolored?" Dipper thought he might have grown a second head right there and then due to know Danna stared at him. It was like he was crazy; perhaps he was, but that was not the case. He could clearly see the difference between black and white. "I mean, I get it that demons are supposed to have white wings, and you're a half-demon, but so am I and my wings—"

"Dude, your wings are white." She pointed out, cutting him off.

"Uh, no, they're black and white," Dipper corrected her, now getting slightly nervous.

"No, they're not." She was starting to get frustrated, before pulling Keehnesi's sleeve. They both needed a second opinion on the subject. "Hey, Dipper's saying his wings are black and white, but they're only white, right? I mean, I'm always right anyway." She shrugged; Keehnesi turned to face Dipper, or, more specifically, his wings. After five seconds of intense staring, he looked at Dipper in the eye, and the younger boy had never noticed how his eyes were so _pink_ before; it was creepy and almost hypnotizing, since Dipper felt like he could stare at them all day long and would be comfortable doing so as long as his eyeballs didn't melt. The definite answer felt like an eternity, but the results came very quickly when Keehnesi only said (or asked) four words:

"Dipper, are you colorblind?"

**. . .**

Now in the room they shared, all four apprentices were completely exhausted. Danna lied in her bed almost at verge of unconsciousness while her brother sat next to Asaph and Dipper, who was showing them the book containing all demon words, including Keehnesi's name's meaning. "I knew his name had to mean something, but I didn't know it was so… _specific_." Asaph explained, tapping his finger on the page with his mentor's name. Daniel leaned a bit closer to get a better view, while Dipper pondered on what that could mean. "His real name is Bartholomew or something similar, so why would he rename himself 'outcast' or 'traitor'?" And that was when Dipper froze, realization finally hitting him. How come he hadn't realize that upon reading the meaning right away? Even if he was wrong, it still made some sense.

"Guys, remember when we met Lucifer?" The name still gave him shudders; _perfect_. Asaph and Daniel nodded, urging him to continue. "During that little argument they had, the mentors told us about how they refused to live with it because of some family affairs. Bill and Beatrice may not have changed their names, but perhaps Keehnesi did because he was the next in throne and didn't want to be remembered because of that; since he was no longer part of the Nightmare Realm, maybe he considered himself an outcast. Now, for the 'traitor', I have no idea. Maybe he betrayed someone? We'll have to ask him." Dipper finished; he was really interested in how that would turn out.

"That's brilliant!" Asaph exclaimed, closing the large book. "Speaking of books, have you read yours already?" Dipper's eyes widened as he realized he hadn't even touched his own book, but simply shook his head in the end.

"Shoot, I forgot! I didn't have the time to read it yet." He answered.

"Who's going to ask mentor Keehnesi about the 'traitor' part?" Daniel questioned. The three of them looked at each other, expecting one of them to offer themselves for it. Their mentors were quite scary, especially if they didn't want their apprentices to get involved in a certain situation. That reminded Daniel of the time they suspended the classes for the time being due to the whole incident with Bill's son; back then, he thought it was stupid – and so did the mentors, as they returned to their lessons shortly thereafter – albeit understanding their reasons; that was their problem only, and they didn't need children involved. He also noticed how their mentors had a protective nature, especially when it came to Lucifer.

"I'll do it," they all turned around to face Danna; it wouldn't have been unusual if she hadn't simply offered herself to do a favor for them without asking for anything in return _yet_.

"This is suspicious." Daniel thought out loud.

"Go fuck yourself." She drawled with a blank face, though frustration was clear in her voice.

"Guys, be polite." Asaph got in between them (not literally) attempting to break the fight.

"Please, would you kindly go fuck yourself, my dear brother?" Danna rejoined once again, and Asaph could no longer keep a straight face as he loudly and joyfully chortled. If looks could kill both of them would've been six foot under in that exact moment. _At least she did as told_, Asaph thought, but maybe Daniel didn't catch the joke. "I'll ask about the name during dinner or lunch or whatever it is now. It'll cause more chaos; this shit will be priceless." She explained with a malicious grin. It was already established that demons could eat, and the mentors did so to gain more energy, so they didn't need to worry about starving. However, they probably should prepare an escape plan in case things went awry.

"Can't say I didn't expect that," Dipper told them in a nonchalant voice tone, but with a slight smile on his face; why did Danna remind him so much of Mabel? Oh, Mabel, he missed her so much.

"It's Danna, what did you expect from her?" Daniel answered while pulling the red sack from one of the pockets from his shorts. The object peaked Asaph's interest.

"What's that?"

"This is what I bought with that gold coin. The cashier said it can make any demon faint, except for, uh, _that guy_." His voice dropped slightly, afraid to pronounce Lucifer's name, as if, in a blink of eyes, it could appear in front of him and steal his soul as a punishment. He slowly opened the sack, showing Asaph and Dipper the pills inside. "I don't really know _why _I bought such a weird and slightly useless item, but I feel like this could be useful in the future." Daniel wasn't lying; if these small pills could knock out any demon in a few seconds as he was told, perhaps they could get away with a few things if they got in trouble – not that he would, but if Danna did something regrettable they would have a chance against their mentors, at least.

"What happens if we give those pills to a normal person?" The aforementioned girl suddenly asked him; this made the three other children think about the answer.

"If they are strong enough to make a demon go unconscious, then maybe they'll send a human into a coma, or kill them." Dipper explained. "Hopefully we'll never have to find out."

"Speaking of future, you haven't had any visions in an awful while, Aph." Daniel pointed out to his friend as Asaph hopped off the bed. That's when he realized that statement was true; it had been more than two weeks, apparently, but he didn't care. Clairvoyance was considered a blessing amongst humans, so much that many of them faked having such an ability to draw attention to themselves. For Asaph, however, being able to predict the future quickly wore out as every event of his life became predictable; obviously that was a surprise since he could not see the future as a child – perhaps that happened due to his awakening, which was basically puberty, but for demons and others related to their kind, such as demons and espers.

"I'm not worried about that. To be fair, I'm kind of glad; those visions are a pain to bear with. It's like a disease that you can't get rid of." Asaph explained.

"Oh, like cancer." Danna piped up. "Though seeing the future can't kill you." She riposted shortly after.

"It actually can, but that's a story for another time." Asaph countered.

"Oh, no, you're going to explain that to us now," she demanded and he simply rolled his eyes before making his way to the bottom bed.

"As you wish, my liege," he bowed at her before sitting down. Perhaps it should have been taken as an offense or a joke, but Danna was more surprised than anything – not only because of his phrase, but because he actually abode by her request. One thing everyone should know about Asaph Horth was that he was as obstinate as one should imagine, and listening to _Danna Saeryd_, out of all people, was never in his plans. "Don't fret; maybe you'll learn something with this as well. How do I start? Well, think of every human action as a snowball: with every roll, the snowball gets bigger and bigger until it cannot be pushed any further due to its prodigious size. Our actions are snowballs; every human contributes to society in a way that we make it work – had that not happened, we would have razed ourselves completely. Cue—"

"Yes, yes, yes, Mr. Karl Marx 2.0, I understand how democracy works, but I still don't see what that has to do with being able to see the future." Danna cut him off. Asaph clicked his tongue at her, showing clear displeasure for being interrupted.

"Had you allowed me to carry on we would have already finished this."

"Ha, savage!" Daniel shouted from the top of the bed. He deeply regretted saying that afterwards as his sister's eyes glowed in a bright blue color, pupils turning into thin slits, as she suddenly went from an impatient child to an irked demon. "U-uh, continue, please, Aph." He tried to change the subject; had he been the only one to notice this? Given Dipper's reaction (as he narrowed his eyes and his hands curled into fists), then maybe not; Asaph might have noticed as well, but he was under them, on the bottom bed, so it was impossible to see. What really piqued his interest was how Danna had gotten impatient all of sudden; her sudden moodiness was very unusual as she was a very rebellious but otherwise collected girl. Besides, why did her eyes glow blue? As far as he knew, her magic was black. He would have to search for it later.

"There's something called butterfly effect: small things we do that have big repercussions, and that's when the clairvoyance enters. Some things aren't meant to be changed, or it could alter the fabric of time and space."

"Say what?" Danna raised an eyebrow.

"In 'Danna language', shit would go down." Asaph clarified, wishing to continue as not to lose his line of thinking. "Some actions are pre-established by kismet. If a car crash happens, it's because that was meant to be; this may sound cruel, but it is reality, what we live in. When someone like me predicts said car crash, and prevents it from happening, some things will have to be adjusted in the future, and thus, could cause some major problems like confusion, Deja-vu and, roughly, the end of the world as we know it." After the explanation was done, it left Dipper thinking; if one small action could alter his whole future, what would have happened if he had never made a deal with Bill? Would his life be better or worse than it was?

"Does that mean that if in one time you interfered during an accident and let another one happen afterwards, there may be problems?" He asked. Asaph thought about that for a second.

"Maybe, but unless you travel back in time, we'll never know for sure."

"Now you made me want to be able to time travel." Danna groaned, but had a smirk plastered on her lips. Asaph leaned back on his bed and shrugged.

"The mentors were probably going to explain this, but since they're not here, seems like I'll have to do it. Every demon has a special ability; most skills are repeated if they're too common, like being able to transform into any creature you want or, taking me as an example, clairvoyance. I, for instance, have _Praevidere_, the ability to see the future; before you ask, yes, every one of these abilities must have a Latin or Japanese name because… I don't know, actually, it just does; maybe it is a demon thing. You guys have some power like this too, but you'll only find out which one it is after some time, or never, if you're somehow the unluckiest person in the world." Asaph took a moment to breathe before continuing his speech. "So, in a nutshell, yes, you can go back in time if you have the ability to do so." Danna thought about it.

"How's the ability to travel back in time called in Latin?" Asaph forced his memory slightly.

"_Jikan Fecit._" He answered. "It roughly translates to 'time they made', with jikan meaning 'time' in Japanese and fecit meaning 'made' in Latin."

"I can understand the Latin stuff, but why Japanese?" Daniel questioned him.

"Japanese is the third language of the angels and demons; the second one is Hebraic, the language in which the bible was written." He paused, suddenly having an epiphany. "Hey, maybe _that's_ why the abilities' names are pronounced in those languages." Dipper pounced off the top bed – already putting to use his demon abilities, one of them being the capability of not crushing his bones under serious pressure – and grabbed his book, which was under the other bunk bed. He took a small pause to analyze the book more carefully; it was covered in dust – more than it was back in the shop – and its cover was torn, probably from time, which only made Dipper want to explore its content even more; aside from that, the book's striking similarity to the third journal sent shivers down Dipper's spine as he analyzed it more carefully.

"Dude, you're just going to stare at the cover? That's, like, the opposite of what a book is made for." Danna snapped Dipper out of the trance that slowly consumed his other feelings towards that book as he forced himself to push the cover aside; the front page seemed to have also suffered a lot in time's hands. "Come on, Dip-dots; tell us, what does it say? What's the book about?" Danna rushed him, and, besides his annoyance, it made Dipper really nervous. The first words of the book were written in demon language; he could not understand a word of it. However, after the first paragraph, things got fairly easier as the language switched to English, with small bits of Kanji and what seemed to be Hebraic.

"It's kind of hard to read it all. The languages keep switching between one another. Everything is erratic and troublesome." Dipper informed them. Perhaps they would know how to deal with that, especially Asaph; although he was slightly bitter about it, he had to admit Asaph was perhaps slightly wiser than him, and thus he lost the role of the smart one, going from that to the awkward boy, but perhaps a prodigy would fit him. He had developed more abilities earlier than any of them, after all, but it would be a matter of time before they caught up with him.

"Excuse me," they all jumped and turned around to face the unknown guest, who – by the clothing and polite countenance – seemed to be a maid or a servant of the castle. The servant's black hair was shoulder-length, which was highly unfitting for her dark skin, though her voice was soft and, maybe, the most comforting sound the apprentices had heard in those two days. "My lieges have called you to announce dinner has been prepared; if you may, they would like your presence downstairs." And with that announcement, she left the room, closing the door behind her. After the maid was gone, Dipper sighed and closed the book briskly, disinclined to continue reading, unwillingly forming a cloud of dust around the room that quickly dispersed.

"I guess we should go…?" Daniel asked upon seeing that none of his friends would budge.

"I have a bad feeling about today." Asaph suddenly told them. "I can't see exactly what it is but something bad is going to happen." He then turned to Dipper, eyes narrowed. "And it's going to happen to you."

**. . .**

Dinner went as great as one would expect.

The first minutes were spent in silence as Dipper barely paid mind to the food itself, which was turkey with mashed potatoes and rice, not a bad combination, in his opinion. He couldn't stop thinking about what Asaph had told him. Something bad would happen to him? It couldn't be, could it? He had never seen Asaph predict the future, not even once, but even if he did, he would most likely not interfere and, thus, it would be impossible to know if one action had been predicted or not. However, the gears in Dipper's head began grinding: would that happen to him in the castle? If so, he could prevent anything bad from happening to him by simply going outside for a few hours until it was safe to return. He would definitely have to ask Asaph about that later. On the other side of the table, Danna was tapping her fingers on the table with a poker face, and Dipper knew exactly what that meant: it was time for the questioning.

"Okay, so, I was thinking…"

"This is not a good thing, is it?" Beatrice cut her apprentice off before anything inappropriate could be asked. Upon doing this, she noticed how the other children squirmed and fidgeted in discomfort on their seats, and then it hit her that it wasn't just Danna's thought, it was a collective thought. They might have had the same idea in their room, but Danna seemed to be the one willing to ask questions about it without being judged, as it was expected of her to ask moronic questions from time to time. Beatrice looked at her siblings expecting some sort of reaction, and they did the same thing to her. Letting out a defeated sigh, she nodded at Danna. "Ask the question already."

"_So_" Danna started, sucking a deep breath between gritted teeth. "Remember when you guys gave us these golden coins?" The three mentors nodded. "We all bought stuff, but Aph here bought a book with lots of words in demon language and what they mean, sort of like a dictionary. He showed us that the book has mentor Keehnesi's name on it, and it means 'outcast' or 'traitor', I don't remember well. So we wanted to know why he'd choose that name…" She stopped, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. During their conversation in their room, she thought it would be funny to get a reaction from the mentors, but after saying that she felt _wrong_; everything was wrong with this.

"That's because your old name was Bartholomew or something similar, so you obviously changed your name." Asaph added. The reaction they got was unlike anything the apprentices expected; all of the mentors were surprisingly calm about all this, especially Keehnesi, despite being the one who was being spoken about.

"I thought you might figure it out one day or another." The pink demon responded; his voice was collected and very soft. He leaned against the table, resting his chin on one of his hands, elbows on the table. "I also know you won't give in unless I give you the answer sought, so I have no other choice." Beatrice gaped at her brother; how would Keehnesi succumb so easily to their apprentices' wishes? It was unlikely of him – she thought he would at least put up more of a fight than _this_.

"Well, that was easy." Daniel whispered to Asaph, who bit the inside of his cheek in nervousness. It was like they were reading Beatrice's mind.

"By now it might be common knowledge that I was the one to inherit Lucifer's throne in political terms, while Beatrice should've been the true heir as she was the oldest, but, because she is a female, her rights were denied. I did not want to be the king, nor did Bill or Bea." He started explaining, trying his best not to let any detail slip. Danna furrowed her brows upon hearing the last statement.

"Whoa, hang on, if you didn't want to be queen, then why did you get all worked up over the damn throne?" She asked her mentor, and Beatrice shrugged.

"It was a matter of pride." The older demon answered nonchalantly.

"Of course it was." Danna replied, rolling her eyes.

"As I was saying, we quickly got tired of being treated as Lucifer's pawns before deciding to run away. Our departure wasn't a surprise for the Nightmare Realm, obviously; they knew _oh how much_ effort we put into being princes and princesses." Asaph snickered. Keehnesi sent him a glare of confusion and doubt; maybe he felt attacked by the action, but Dipper didn't know why Asaph would laugh in the first place. The room was deadly quiet, no one dared make a sound, because the story was starting to get interesting. It was only in rare moments that Dipper had the pleasure to listen to such enthralling stories. "What's so funny?"

"You said earlier demons didn't have a sense of sarcasm." He pointed out.

"Well, you caught me." Keehnesi's lips curved into a grin. "Before I carry on, does anyone have anything else to say before I get interrupted once again?" The room was pierced by the unsettling silence. "Good. Once we were far away from the place we once dared call home, we took new identities. Bill and Bea chose to shorten their name to something simpler, while I completely changed mine; something about my name seemed off to me. If I only cut it in half like my siblings, the name would still control me and make me feel like the prince I used to be. I still used my powers on some rare occasions to check on the realm we left behind and see if there were any rumors about us, or if someone acknowledged our disappearance. Surprisingly, they did, and we gained a new name:_ keehnesis_, meaning traitors."

"And outcasts too, right?" Dipper asked him, after making sure the story was truly over. Keehnesi nodded at him. "That's very interesting."

"Danna, are you ok?" Daniel noticed how his sister was very, very focused on her plate, something very unusual. Her eyes were no longer tinged in their characteristic green, but were now made of various hues of blue, exactly like Beatrice's. "Danna…?" He asked again, now getting worried about her. Everyone's attention shifted to Danna once they noticed how she had been way too quiet for an awful while. Asaph and Dipper's eyes widened once they no longer paid mind to Danna, but stared her plate instead. Cracks were starting to form under the dish, expanding to other areas of the plate as well; the food looked like it was being squashed under an anvil. Once the plate started shaking, the three apprentices understood it was time to stop staring and ducked under the table before the dish simply _exploded_; food and glass shards flew everywhere.

The mentors did not move; instead, they used their psychic powers to avoid being hit by the cracks or parts of the meal, and Danna was completely unharmed, albeit covered in turkey and mashed potatoes. As soon as it was safe to return, the apprentices peeked from under the table and returned to their seats, making sure there was nothing on them; Daniel removed a piece of glass from his chair before sitting. "U-urgh," she grunted upon returning to her old self and gaining control of her mind once again. "W-what happened?" She looked at herself, and saw the mashed potatoes on her lap. "And please tell me this is food." She pleaded with a small flash of disgust on her face. The other three children in the room looked at their mentors, hoping for an answer.

"Well, that was unexpected, and on the second day, too." Beatrice thought out loud, before turning to Danna. "It seems like you have found your special ability."

* * *

**A/N: I am back, peoples!**

**Spent too long without posting another chapter! But before anything else, Happy (late) 2017! Hope you guys had an awesome christmas (or your holiday)/new year! I sure did have a great one, I got to see the beautiful fireworks from Copacabana (Rio); holy crap, that was awesome. Now, back to the fanfic. I really wanted to post this on day 1 just to surprise you guys, but it didn't happen, sooooooooo, here goes. I wanted to make this chapter longer and add the next one's content as well, but it would be too tiring for you guys to read, so here we have some more explanations about Keehnesi's name and special abilities, such as Asaph's Praevidere (let's hope I didn't mess up with my latin on this one). Speaking of latin, I won't have as much time as I had last year (even though I posted not so many chapters) since I'll be starting German after tomorrow (day 5), so German readers of this fic, you had better get cover! **

**Also, have you guys (pokemon fans) bought Pokemon Sun and Moon yet? It was awesome, and I loved the game and story alike, although I admit the absurd amount of cutscenes was rage-inducing. I also thought it would be good to start with a shiny started and on less than 15 Soft Resets I get my amazing shiny Rowlet (now a beautifully black Decidueye). If any of you guys want to talk to me about the game, just PM me and I'll be here to speak about it! Let's also talk about some of the names I got the characters, such as Mr. Edgelord (Gladion), Get-In-The-Bag (Nebby), My Bae (Hau), Is-Kukui-A-Tree? (Professor Kukui [I'm too lazy to search]), Kawaii-desu (Lillie), IT'S OVER 40! (Lusamine [eh, get the reference?]), Gramps (Hala), Eyebrows (Hapu) and IT'S YO BOY (Guzma), just to name a few. (holy crap I made an entire paragraph just to talk about pokemon, lets get to the questions).**

**(1) So, hopefully I explained some things to you guys? Or I just confused you more? Which one is it?  
(2) Why did Danna's eyes flash blue _twice _in this fanfic? What could that mean?  
(3) Why does only Dipper sees his wings and black and white?  
(4) Let's all agree to call Asaph 'Karl Marx 2.0' now?  
(5) What is Danna's special ability? Send your guesses! (and latin names if you guys want)  
(6) Does Keehnesi's explanation make sense?**

**Anywaay, that's all for today, peoples! I made the chapter extra-big just for y'all. We're almost reaching 40 chapters!**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	41. AN: Anarchy

I know you guys have been waiting for an update, and that I haven't updated in some time. My school has started and I also have to worry about my german courses now, but that's not what I came to tell you. I am not going to say a suicide message either, and I deeply regret that, I wanted to warn you guys because I felt hopeless. However, you all helped me and gave me hope, and I am truly happy. If I'm alive, it's not only because of the amazing people around me who gave me support when I needed it, it was also because of you guys. Now, onto the true message.

On the day of February 10th from now on I may not respond or update in a while, as much as I want to. My country is diving in _chaos_. One of our states, Espirito Santo, had their police officers stop working four days ago due to not being paid by the government, and the state was taken in a state of utter depression. People are getting mugged and killed, stores are being robbed and nothing can stop it if we only live in fear without acting. From friday to tuesday, fifty people have been killed. The place is no longer functioning; luckily some of the Army (the goddamned Army!) has come to their aid. I don't live in that state, though, so why am I warning you? The same may happen to **MY** state. The police officers from here have said they will stop working if not paid, which they haven't been, and that is going to happen on friday, day 10 of February. My mom says not to worry, but I am shaking. If they stop working, we will have no police, and thus, the people will be free to do whatever they want, from mugging to murdering. I hope this doesn't happen, we must find a way out of this. The Anarchy is coming to my country, and it's not just a movie this time...

I know it's hard for you guys being without my story, I know you all love it and I'm so grateful, you all are so amazing people who have helped me become the writer I always dreamt of being. However, as much as I wish I could, I cannot choose in which country I was born in, nor can I move due to lack of financial stability or a visa. In case you guys find a similar message on a site called Archive of Our Own, I also have an account there where I post my other stories so, no, I am not copying another person. I may be exaggerating a little on the problem, like I always do, but, this time, it's much more serious. It's not about me or my personal problems, it's about my country as a whole. We need to change, the corruption needs to stop, and, unless we do something, our country is going to shit.

I have already started Episode 40, and I was deeply thinking about whether I should post this note or not. I didn't want to, since I dislike having to use chapters as notes, but I have no other choice, I can't PM every one of my readers and tell them what is going to happen, it would take too long. So, this is my last resort. Hopefully the government will take action before my state is also dragged into this black hole we call anarchy. And, to my people, brazilians who read my stories, who say we don't need the police, _**what do you have to say now?**_

I'm not trying to be dramatic, or trying to get sympathy, or trying to get reviews, I just want to warn you in case something happens to me or my internet connection, I don't want to leave you guys without a story or at least an update. I want you all to know about what is going on. My news won't cover it no matter what, they are trying to hide it all from us, pretend it doesn't exist, and hoping we do the same. However, I cannot ignore it all. People are dying. People are being mugged. People are losing their rights from left to right. They need help, and their pleas are ignored by the media. As much as I'd like to help, what can I, a 15-year-old girl who can only write stories as a way to make her life seem _worth it_, do? There is something I can do. I can warn people. This is what I'm doing. You don't need to spread my word, as many people will not listen, I just want you to know that you can do something; risking others' lives because of your selfish needs is utterly repulsive.

Love y'all. Hope you have a good day.

_Awakened Niwana, off._

EDIT: I'm okay/alive.


	42. Episode 40

**Episode 40: Nothing to hide.  
Arc: "The Arc of Ciphers"  
Opening: Core Pride — UVERworld.**

**. . .**

_"Guileless son, I'll shape your belief,  
and you'll always know that your father's a thief,  
and you won't understand the cause of your grief,  
but you'll always follow the voices beneath."_

_— Mordred's Lullaby. Heather Dale._

**. . .**

Archimicarus sighed as his grip tightened around Asaph's necklace. He could _feel _his brain cells dying one by one as he just _stared _at the necklace, as if it would confide him its darkest secrets.

He was alive; his child was alive, after all this time. He couldn't believe it. Archimicarus was sure Asaph would have been hunted down a long time ago for being a hybrid, a half-demon, a product of intercourse between a human and a demon, either by pastors or the peasants. That would have been his fate fifteen years ago, if he hadn't met her, the love of his life. Back then, Archimicarus vehemently believed the lie of demons not having any positive emotions towards anyone else except for themselves, but it all changed when he met her. Alma was different; she was the only daughter of a kind of well-known pastor, who owned a small church in the small town of Summerfield. The memories burned in the back of his mind, and these flames refused to be extinguished, they would not stop burning and reminding him of the events that took place back then.

**_. . ._**

_Archimicarus gritted his teeth as he pressed his palm against the large wound to prevent the bleeding from worsening; his efforts were in vain, however, as more blood and magic escaped from his fingers and spilled on the ground. "Fucking meat sacks, so weak…" He whispered to no one other but himself, as there was nobody to hear his lament anyway. Archimicarus' wings and skin were in a bad shape as well – many bones were broken and feathers were lost, and his skin had various third and second-degree burns – but they would heal a lot faster, and weren't vital for the body his spirit inhabited, unlike the place where he had been stabbed: his heart, the place where he had chosen to guard his soul. He had gathered a lot of magic to create this body, and, even though he could still manage to live if the physical body succumbed, he didn't want to lose it. It would take too much effort to create another identical one. However..._

_In normal circumstances, he would have healed himself easily, but the core of his being had been affected by the holy water the pastor had thrown on him, which blocked his healing ability and was slowly dissolving the heart, trying to reach his soul to dissolve it as well. Was this his fate? Was he going to die alone, in the middle of a forest, all because of his curiosity? Lucifer was right in warning him about the dangers of humanity; had he listened to the king, Archimicarus would not have been in this situation. How did the humans even notice his presence? On Gravity Falls he had disguised himself pretty easily, mingling with the crowd, but the humans from Summerfield didn't seem to be as oblivious. _

_All he could hear was silence, besides the small buzz in his head from the scuffle with the pastor. The only audible sounds were of the birds' flapping wings as they went back and forth with small twigs on their beaks to build new nests, the animals' growls and roars as they roamed back and forth throughout the forest, and the buzzes of a swarm of bees gathering together on their hive, amidst many other sounds that were characteristic of forests. However, one thing didn't match. He could hear and feel footsteps that were not from the animals; theirs were soft and hardly discernible, but those footsteps were rushed and harsh – no animal would do this unless they were a prey running from a predator; however, he could still distinguish the two sounds._

_And then he heard it:_

_"Hello, is someone here?" A voice asked from afar._

_Feeling his instincts tingling, Archimicarus positioned himself in the best fighting stance he could, preparing to use the last bits of magic he had to defend himself, even if that was the last thing he would do; he would die with dignity. Finally, the person whose voice belonged to was within view, and Archimicarus felt his muscles relaxing. The person was simply a girl, who seemed to be no older than eighteen years of age; she didn't seem to mean any harm, but he still couldn't let his guard down. Once the girl's eyes landed on the harmed demon, she immediately yelled: "Oh my, you're hurt!" Archimicarus sneered silently; of course he was hurt, any creature with eyes and half a brain would notice. He tensed once again when she extended her hand, attempting to touch him._

_"Let me help—"_

_"**STAND BACK**!" He bellowed, using his wings to appear more intimidating. His eyes flashed in a bright green color, his pupils now being nothing more than thin slits, and his canines were showing. The voices of the enraged villagers were still audible on his memory; their clamors of vengeance for the lord were louder than his own thoughts. He shouldn't trust humans, he **couldn't**; they were monsters with thirst for the blood of his race. "**DO NOT TOUCH ME!**" Archimicarus screeched as he took a step back once he felt the human approaching once more, ignoring his warnings, although he did not notice the rock behind him; he slipped, falling on his back, unwillingly letting out a yowl of pain. The girl let out a gasp as she scurried towards him, and now he was too weak to stop her._

_"You're one of them, aren't you?" She asked, checking his wound. His flesh was no longer smooth like it used to be, now being replaced with decaying skin from the burns; she could tell it was due to holy water – demons were extremely allergic to it. Archimicarus didn't respond – he didn't know how to, nor would his voice work. He was completely ashamed; had this human girl not been merciful enough not to kill him on the spot, since even a pocket knife would suffice due to him being too weak to counter-attack or have a proper reaction, he would've been just another demon who had died due to its own foolishness. Perhaps he should have heed Lucifer's advice on spying on the humans of Summerfield. The girl sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and grabbed his wrist; she had a very strong grasp for her size and delicate build. "Don't worry, I'll take you home and we can heal—"_

_"No!" Archimicarus protested with a hoarse voice, trying to free himself from her grasp. "They'll kill me! They've attempted to do it once, I'm not risking it!" Surely enough the pastor and the people of the town he managed to inculcate were still around, and bringing back a demon they had just barely killed would do more harm than good for both sides. If the girl insisted with her plan, his demise was sealed. The girl let him go, but she didn't move. Archimicarus noticed she was fidgeting a little._

_"Why would he do this…?" She questioned herself while analyzing the demon's body. He was in a pretty bad shape; had he provoked any of the townspeople? That couldn't be; she could feel his panic from afar. He was _scared _of them; a demon was scared of humans. It should've been the other way around, but her father managed to turn the tables. She couldn't decide whether that was good or not a few years before, but now she definitely knew her father wasn't doing the right thing, despite only wishing to protect the people from the city. "My father wasn't always this way…" She murmured, but Achimicarus' sensitive and sharp ears could hear the heartbeat of a rat from far away._

_"Your… Your father…?" Archimicarus asked, dazed. There was a very obvious divergence of personalities between those two._

_"I must take you to my house; I have an emergency kit there. It's not much, but it may help, since you have a human body, albeit being a demon." She said. "But… If I can't take you to the village, what do I do?" She asked herself; she was starting to have a headache. Archimicarus gave her the most serious look he could muster._

_"Stand back."_

_As much as she wanted to, the human didn't complain as she took a few steps back. She felt like the demon was trying to run away, but she was his only hope of getting better. Archimicarus closed his eyes and focused as much as he could; in a matter of seconds, a white circular barrier rose from the ground around him. "With this barrier, I can protect myself and, in the time being, you can get the emergency kit." He explained. The girl was hypnotized by the shield; there were small stars embedded on the barrier, which made it even more alluring. She extended her hand to touch it. "**Don't!**" Archimicarus snapped. "If you touch it, you'll die from shock. I put the barrier up for a reason!" The girl mentally scolded herself for getting distracted._

_"Hold up for a few minutes, I won't take long!" She informed before taking off to the exit of the forest. Archimicarus gritted his teeth as his wounds seemed to only get worse at every second. He would gladly accept that girl's help, as she seemed willing to help him. Archimicarus was taught by the adults around him to never trust a human with your life; he had no other choice, however. _

_All he could do was wait…_

**_. . ._**

"Special ability…?" Danna asked, still slightly dizzy from the stunt she had unwillingly pulled. "Hey, Aph, didn't you say something about that?" Asaph nodded, feeling his mentor's eyes on him; he tensed.

"Oh, Asaph already explained the subject, I suppose?" Keehnesi asked. All of the apprentices nodded and Asaph tensed even more. He was sure his mentor could hear his accelerated heartbeat. He had no reason to be nervous, but his body wouldn't obey his commands to stop acting like he was; there was no avail in trying to hide it. Keehnesi noticed his apprentice's sudden anxiety, so he looked away. "Tell me, Danna," he turned to his sister's apprentice. "What ability do you think you have?" It was no surprise that Danna grinned, her imagination going wild with infinite possibilities. Maybe it was his imagination, but Keehnesi was sure he heard Beatrice mutter 'oh, lord'. Perhaps he ought to ignore her grumble.

"I CAN EXPLODE THINGS!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Not quite." Beatrice told her.

"Damn, this sucks. I wanted to explode things; well, I wanted to explode people too, but mainly things, like my homework. Maybe I'd have a decent excuse." Danna groaned. "So, what ability do I have?"

"_Graviperium_," Beatrice answered.

"Bless you." Danna retorted 'innocently' while smiling.

"I won't bother answering you, I'm sure it'll just encourage this stupid and childish behavior." Her mentor chided between gritted teeth whilst crossing her arms. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you technically answering her already?" He immediately regretted pointing that out once Beatrice glared daggers at him. Dipper shivered; that night wasn't going well _at all_.

"Don't outsmart me, young boy." Beatrice chastised.

"Let's keep the peace, guys. We can kill each other tomorrow during the next lesson, it'll be even better!" Bill piped up. "'Sides, we need the apprentices to be kind of _alive_ to teach them stuff, even though we can call Jack in case they suddenly drop dead." He told his siblings right after, looking at his brother. "Hey, Keeh, since you're the smartass, go on and explain what _Graviperium_ is."

"_Graviperium_ is a very dangerous albeit useful ability," Keehnesi began the explanation, ignoring the nickname given to him by Bill. "It allows the user to control the gravity of one object, or multiple ones, depending on their power, either minimizing or enhancing it. In Danna's case, unbeknownst to her, she altered the gravity of the plate, consequently causing it to cave in under the pressure and explode." Everyone looked at what remained of the plate, alongside the smashed food – there was food everywhere, especially on the walls. "Tomorrow, after training your flying skills once more, we'll start the preparations to find your special abilities. Of course, we might not discover them right away since it takes some effort to find them. Danna was very lucky for finding hers right away."

"Okay, quick question," Dipper humbly raised his hand. "What are _your_ special abilities?"

"Oh, I was going to ask that too!" Daniel added. Bill snorted, with an amused look.

"Why does it matter?"

"Why does it _not _matter?" Asaph questioned them. "Unless you're trying to hide something from us, then you ought to answer."

"The kid's using reverse logic on us." Beatrice leaned forward and whispered to Keehnesi. "I think we should eliminate him." She said a little louder; she was joking, obviously, but her voice tone was serious and plain – Beatrice was merely trying to yank a reaction out of him. Surprisingly, Asaph didn't seem to have been fooled.

"I can see the future, I'll see it coming." He gave her a smirk. Beatrice scowled.

"We do not have special abilities." Keehnesi intervened, not wishing for things to get out of hand. "Our omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence are our 'special abilities', even if they do not exactly count." He stared inside of Asaph's green eyes. "Special abilities can either help or bother you; choose which one it is, and we will gladly remove it for you. They cannot be given back or replaced, however, so choose wisely." He then nodded as the entrance to the room opened. "You're dismissed." He said, waving his hand for them dismissively. The four apprentices exchanged confused glances before heading towards the door hesitantly. They were about to exit when Keehnesi's voice was heard once more. "One more thing," he said calmly. "Near your room there are two bathrooms and extra clothes, take a shower and change your attire. Before you question us, the clothes are genderless but have different colors, I'm sure you'll know which clothes belong to each of you. Now you can go."

The four children complied.

"That went very well." Daniel said sarcastically once they were out of the mentors' sights.

"Keehnesi said something about removing special abilities…" Dipper commented, putting a hand on his chin. "Is that possible? I thought these abilities were attached to you, like, part of your spirit or something." Asaph shook his head.

"I didn't understand either." He sighed. "But I don't think I want to go back and question it."

"I think I have a headache." Danna complained, holding her forehead. "Also, I'm covered in food. That would've been my dream a few days ago, but this sucks." They all stopped in front of the door of their room. "I'm taking the first shower!" She announced, scurrying towards the bathroom to her left and closing the door behind her. She analyzed the bathroom quickly; the walls were painted in white, like the ceiling and the floor, but there were lots of space left. There was a shower near the toilet and faucet. There was a bunch of folded clothes on a wardrobe near the door – which also made her question why there was a wardrobe on the _bathroom _of all possible places. The pleasant smell of lavender invaded her nostrils as she began undressing; at least she would be clean for tomorrow's lesson.

Not that she was looking forward to it…

**_. . ._**

Dipper let out a sigh of relief.

He felt a lot lighter now; his old, dirty and ripped clothes were now replaced with fresh and clean ones. The fabric was soft and colored in gold; the attire was composed of a long-sleeved shirt and long, albeit comfortable pants. Dipper let out a low chuckle – the mentors really thought this through. While his attire was completely yellow, Asaph's was pink and the twins' were blue. Each apprentice was wearing clothes with their mentors' colors; now he understood what Keehnesi meant. Feeling his muscles relaxing, Dipper allowed himself to smile and lean against the wall on the bottom bunk bed, something he hadn't done in a while – especially due to all of the disastrous things that had been happening on the first days that the stepped on the Nightmare Realm.

_Maybe this trip wasn't so bad like I previously thought,_ Dipper told himself. Then he heard a laugh on the back of his mind, and he jumped.

**_"Letting your guard down already, little brother? Don't worry…"_**

Dipper bit his lip, closed his eyes and tried to relax, but his heart continued beating as quickly as a rat's. He could _feel_ the creature's smirk. It seemed to always know how to distress him, how to make him crumble under its gaze. Dipper knew he didn't want to go to sleep that night.

**_"The fun has just begun."_**

* * *

**A/N: So, y'all have been worried about me.**

**I'm fine. Great, actually. Our mayor (I think it was him) agreed to pay our officers on a certain date and they made a deal, so it was all good. I, however, am in school again so I have to study a lot. However, I hope you guys like this chapter. I also went to a friend's friend's house before yesterday and we heard shots from afar, but everything was fine. So, ya, I'm happy I didn't have a bullet on my head. Anyway, hope you all like this chapter. Nope, not asking questions, but feel free to tell me your theories and stuff. I like hearing them.**

**Also, I'm fixing a few things, especially 'poisonous', which should be 'venomous', so, yeah, see y'all on the comments I guess.**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	43. Episode 41

**Episode 41: My misfortune, your amusement.  
Arc: "The Arc of Ciphers"  
Opening: Core Pride — UVERworld.**

**. . .**

_"Welcome to the interior of my womb,  
this is the final destination for love and ego!  
You will soon be reborn again, too,  
like a monster,  
won't that be fantastic?"_

_— Outer Science. Vocaloid._

**. . .**

"Dipper…? Yo, hell to Dipper, wake up, man!" Danna smacked Dipper's forehead, awakening the boy from the momentary trance.

"Danna, what the heck?!" He asked, while putting his hand over his forehead, either to soothe the minimal pain or to prevent her from smacking it again. "I was just…" Dipper paused. He couldn't tell Danna about the creature, or the deal he made with it; he couldn't tell her _anything_ about it at all. He felt dread and fear mixing together to form one unknown feeling, something he couldn't name. A snicker crossed his mind and reverberated, undoubtedly belonging to the creature. "I-I…" He stuttered once more, struggling to keep calm and maintain control of the situation. His eyes darted around the room trying to find an escape route but he knew he couldn't escape from the creature in his mind – it was like it was attached to his soul; he could run, but couldn't hide. "I'm fine, it's just a headache," he said. He secretly crossed his fingers and hoped she would believe it. Besides, this wasn't exactly a lie, as Dipper could feel a headache coming just by thinking about the hellish nightmares that awaited him that night.

"I knew it! In your face, Daniel!" Danna yelled at her brother whilst pointing her finger at his face, not bothering to hide her condescending grin. "I _told you_ headaches were contagious! Look, Dipper just caught my headache!" The room fell silent as Asaph, Daniel and Dipper silently judged Danna. "What…?" She asked lazily while narrowing her eyes and (sassily) putting her hands on her hips after noticing the stares she had been given.

"_Anyway_!" Asaph exclaimed while taking a step forward, cutting the silence. "I think it's still too early to go to bed, so I'm thinking about exploring the castle." He suggested.

"Exploring?" Daniel asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Would you rather rot in here?"

"I'm sure there's a safer way to have fun." Suddenly Danna gasped, raising her hand, grinning from ear to ear.

"We can play _Truth or Dare_!" She yelled, hopping from the bottom bed. Dipper let out a sigh of relief, but immediately shut his mouth, hoping no one had seen or heard it. "It's a very fun game; besides, we get to know each other better. You know, the usual, our fears, our dreams, our _crushes_—," and with that she eyed her brother, who immediately recoiled and accidentally let out an incoherent sound. "—and pretty much everything else! It's way better than _walking_." She spat the word like it was acid. Asaph, Daniel and Dipper exchanged glances, mentally deciding on whether they should side with Danna or not. Daniel knew he definitely didn't want to play this game, and although he could just lie, Danna would surely let his secret out at some point.

"I think that's a good idea." Asaph was the first one to open his mouth. "I mean, if we have nothing else to do, then it's better than nothing." Danna's grin widened.

"Don't feed the devil!" Daniel punched his friend's shoulder lightly. Asaph just snickered.

"I don't think we have any other option, so I'll go with it." Dipper responded. "But, if I recall correctly, we need a bottle, right? Where are we going to get one without asking for it?" He didn't want to face the mentors at that point, especially after that night. Danna snapped her fingers and, in less than a second, a glass bottle magically appeared on her hand.

"Now we have a bottle!" She said, placing the bottle on the floor. "Now let's make a circle and start this." Daniel groaned as he sat next to his sister; Dipper got off the bed in hopes this would distract him before his possible demise. He knew the creature was still there, waiting, but perhaps this would serve as a brief distraction. Asaph groaned as he sat down, muttering something about being 'too old for this'. "Great, now let's start this!" Danna announced quite loudly as she spun the bottle; the room fell silent as everyone patiently waited for it to stop. Unexpectedly, the bottle came to a sudden halt. The bottle's neck was pointing at Daniel and its end was pointing at Danna. "Well, Dan, looks like you've got to answer my questions!" She sung happily.

"It's not fair, you clearly cheated!"

"I'm hurt! Where's the proof for such _scandalous_ accusation?" She asked dramatically. Daniel pointed to the bottle.

"Right there! It stopped suddenly, and I saw a black aura surrounding it before it stopped! Dipper, Asaph, you guys saw it too, right?" Asaph barely suppressed a smirk.

"I didn't see anything." Daniel then looked at Dipper for support, but it seemed like the latter was in a deep trance, just staring at the nearest wall, eyes foggy and vacant. "Just choose truth and lie through your teeth; works every time." Danna leaned in closer.

"That's where it gets interesting. If you lie, you'll get a small shock wave. Take is as a punishment. Truth or Dare is a sacred game; disrespecting its rules is disrespecting the law!" She pronounced while producing a small orb from the tip of her finger. Daniel bit his lip to stop himself from cussing her out loudly. Okay, then, _truth or dare_?" Danna asked, leaning back slightly, the words going through Daniel like one thousand spears. He couldn't decide; on one hand, he wouldn't have to receive a shock if he chose dare, although Danna would made him do something — _anything _— related to Asaph, and, on the other hand, unless she had some kind of item with her, she wouldn't be able to differ the truth from the lie. Daniel took a deep breath.

"Truth," he answered, bracing himself for the worst.

"Alrighty, then, you sealed your fate!" She sung happily, clapping her hands together. "Here's your question: who's your favorite sister?" Daniel gaped at her.

"You're my _only_ sister." He responded.

"You still didn't answer what I asked." His twin rejoined, conjuring a small orb from the tip of her index finger. Daniel immediately panicked, and with a good reason to do so.

"You're my least favorite sister, to be honest." Danna sighed, still maintaining her grin, as the orb disappeared from her fingertip.

"Correct." Asaph let out a discreet snort. "Spin the bottle," she told her brother. Daniel complied. Strangely enough, this time Danna did not interrupt the bottle's rotation. After a few seconds of complete silence, the bottle stopped, with its neck pointing at Dipper and its end at Asaph. The latter opened his eyes, preparing to ask the typical 'truth or dare?' question, but noticed how distracted Dipper looked. Danna extended her arm towards him to smack his forehead again, but just as her fingers were a few centimeters from to his head, he suddenly grabbed her wrist without even bothering to look back. Asaph couldn't help but notice his eyes briefly flashed in a bright blood-red color.

That's when Dipper snapped back to reality.

"Did I miss something?" He asked, letting go of Danna's wrist as she rubbed it. Asaph pointed to the bottle. "Oh."

"So, you choose: truth or dare." Asaph explained.

"Truth," Dipper spilled without even thinking about it. Realization hit him moments later, but it was too late to take it back. Asaph seemed to be thinking of a good question to ask.

"I've chosen my question." He made eye contact with Dipper, smiling. "What are you hiding from us?" He was met with three seconds of silence before Dipper's wings burst through the fabric with all of their might. _This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening, _he chanted in his head repeatedly, feeling lightheaded. He tried to calm himself down, but it was almost impossible with all of the mayhem that was going on inside his brain, all of the voices screaming at him at the same time; it was _maddening_! Asaph noticed how Dipper's breath began accelerating and how his skin quickly became devoid of color; he was having a complete panic attack. "Dude, calm down, you're—"

And Dipper was gone; he had teleported.

**. . .**

Everything in his sight was a blurry mess.

Colors, sensations and smells swirled together in a ball of confusion and anxiety as Dipper tried to grasp his already decaying sanity. He barely had time to understand what was happening before his vision adjusted itself according to reality; the place was completely unknown to him – it seemed like a room like any other, but it was much larger and completely empty; there was no furniture. Despite the calm environment he was suddenly put in, for no known reason, Dipper's heart was still hammering in his chest, causing an abnormal pain. He could barely stand up to look around and search for an exit, and he also lacked the determination to do so. How did he even end up there? His memory was failing him at that moment – everything was a mix of foggy remembrances. It made him irritable and nauseous.

"**P̴̴a̧t͏̛h̨̢é̛ti̕c̛̕͘.҉̛͟** ", the creature inside his mind sneered.

"Shut up…" Dipper groaned, barely understanding what was being said by it, while pressing a hand against his forehead to ease the newly-formed headache. It accidentally brushed against one of his wings – he barely noticed they were there. Perhaps they were summoned when Asaph asked that damned question; out of _all_ the questions he could've asked…

"**It's the reality, _face it_,**" it stated with the blandest voice Dipper had ever heard. The voice was now, however, clear as crystal, enabling Dipper to understand what was being said. He winced.

"Leave me alone!" Gathering enough courage to finally say those words, Dipper didn't hold himself back. "I hate you! I goddamn _hate you_! **_LEAVE ME ALONE!_**" He roared in a disturbing demonic voice. He only realized the huge mistake when it was too late. The world around him started warping and distorting whilst losing its original colors. Dipper closed his eyes and pressed his hands against his ears; that was it: he was finally going mad. His brain had finally melted and this was manifesting the outside world in his eyes in the worst way possible. The voice in his head had gone silent, but, despite it being what Dipper would have wanted a few seconds ago, the lack of activity left him concerned. He hated the silence.

That's when he felt himself falling on something soft: grass.

Dipper didn't want to open his eyes; he felt like he needed to, but his mind seemed to have other plans. After a few seconds of internal struggle, he opened his eyes and removed his hands from his ears; instead of facing some sort of monster, which is what he was expecting, Dipper found himself facing the clear-blue sky. It was unsettling but calming at the same time…

For five seconds.

That's when things went downhill.

He stood up and found himself face-to-face with a gun's muzzle. He immediately, and for good reason, panicked once again and stiffened. The woman holding the gun, which happened to be an AK-47, had long and messy dark-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes to match. He _knew _that woman, but… from where? She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before finally removing her finger from the trigger, but didn't lower her gun. "Where did you come from, kid? Where are your parents? How old are you?" Her voice, albeit demanding, was raspy and low, as if she had been screaming all day. Dipper's voice faltered for a minute – he didn't know if he could trust her or not, but it was his best shot.

"I-I don't know, I just… _appeared_. And I'm twelve-years-old…" He made eye contact with her before looking at the gun again. "I would appreciate it if you lowered the gun." The woman didn't budge.

"Your wings—" she said, eyeing them carefully, as if one wrong move would make them dust. "—are black and white…" Dipper slowly looked at them; his wings would make certain movements that indicated he was nervous, but nothing major. That's when something hit him; she had been the first one to say his wings weren't _white_. How could that be…? Even Danna denied it, which was a major thing – she was extremely serious about it, which was very rare.

"Y-yeah, I think so…" He stuttered. The woman narrowed her eyes before finally lowering the gun. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "U-um…"

"This doesn't matter right now…" She murmured. "I'll take you to the haven, but if you turn out to be Arken's spy, or Arken himself, I will make a hole in your skull with this gun." She threatened. Dipper opened his mouth to protest before the world around him lost its shape and went black. He closed his eyes again and took a few deep breaths. One single word stuck in his brain, however: _Arken_. Who was Arken? Why was that woman hiding from him? What was the 'haven'? The darkness reminded him of the monster inside his mind, the one he made a deal with…

The monster that—

_Wait…_

He was suddenly remembering something. Once, when he encountered said monster in that field, he had stumbled upon a body; a _dead_ body. Why did that woman look so familiar to the corpse he had tripped on?

Before he could investigate further and connect the dots to get a final conclusion, Dipper was forced back into consciousness; as his eyelids slowly fluttered open the bright lights immediately violated his eyesight. Unlike the grass that tickled his skin, Dipper could feel the softness of the sheets under him. There was a beeping sound in the background and the smell of cleaning products invaded his nostrils with its pleasant scent. Once his vision had adjusted to the light, Dipper looked around. It looked like a hospital room; no, it didn't just _look_ like it, it _was _a hospital room. Next to his bed, there was a teenager writing something on a clipboard. "Oh, you're awake, that's good, I guess." She said with a cheerful voice.

"Who are you?" Dipper slurred, trying to sit up. She quickly put her hand on his chest and forced him down.

"Don't sit up, you just woke up and this may cause dizziness and more unconsciousness. I took a liking to you so I won't allow harm to come upon you for now." She answered, putting the clipboard down along with the pen, grabbing a chair and sitting down. "My name's Jack, I'm the official royal doctor. I'm sure you're wondering what's going on so I will tell everything, no secrets. Archimicarus found you unconscious on one of the cells used to lock prisoners who have gone mad and brought you here; he reported having heard screams coming from the place and decided to check it out. Your body shut itself down, you had very heavy convulsions and you were unconscious for three hours before you decided it was time to leave forever."

"Leave forever…?" Dipper questioned.

"Die. Kick the bucket. Bite the dust. Meet your maker. Assume the room's temperature. Buy the farm. Bite the big one. Cross the great divide. Enter the Pearly Gates. Join your ancestors. Walk the plank. Pass—"

"I think I get it." He interrupted her. "If I died, how am I still here?" Jack grinned.

"It's because of this," and with that, she pointed to a six-point star made of wood at the end of a necklace she was wearing. "My special ability is called _Vivistella_. With the ability of a special object, I can revive any person whose soul still inhabits their body or hasn't been completely shattered within a timespan of ten minutes; if even one second is off, whatever or whoever I'm supposed to revive is gone for real. I chose this object myself – it was a gift from a loved one who passed away because I was too late and unprepared. May this necklace be broken, my soul breaks with it." Dipper definitely wasn't ready to ratiocinate all of this information that had been suddenly given to him. On a dark corner of his mind, he remembered one phrase from Bill:

_"…we can call Jack in case they suddenly drop dead."_

Dipper felt like he ought to say something, but he didn't know what. So, without thinking, he blurted out: "You have a male name." Before he could scold himself mentally, Jack laughed.

"Jack is just a nickname. My real name is Jacqueline Enkod." She explained. "Do you have any other questions?" Dipper thought a little harder about it; he didn't want to embarrass himself again.

"You said that you can revive someone if their soul hasn't shattered; why?"

"A soul is the most important part of a demon. No _soul_, no _you_; this is a rhyme I learned when I was learning about the basics of a demon's anatomy. If your soul shatters, then you die instantly and you literally become dust, because your body rots at an abnormal pace. Most humans could be revived if they died from, let's say, cancer, by me if I came to them in time and wanted to revive them. I even proposed this to Einstein once, but he refused; something about dying with dignity or elegance or whatever, so I erased his memory about me and moved on." She took a deep breath. "Not many things can shatter your soul, though I'd be alert for two things: holy water and certain creatures called Corbos. These last ones are very tricky, but you will recognize them by their body patterns. After all, no raven has white feathers and black feathers mixed together."

"I was attacked by them once." Dipper explained. He could see Jack's eyes brighten up upon hearing this.

"That's incredible! Your soul would have been sucked out completely if they managed to take control over your strength. You're the one-percent of demons to ever come out alive from a Corbo attack!" She told him, before looking at the machine next to him. Dipper barely noticed it was there – this was the source of that beeping, after all. She then looked at him again, eyeing his hair this time. "Before I forget to ask, did you try to paint your hair yourself with a can of spray or is it naturally blue? Because if it is, I'm sorry, but you look terrible." Dipper then remembered the incident with his hair and his animal form. Did it really look that bad? He felt ashamed for having walked around like that for that long.

"When I turned into my animal form, Bill said my hat, one that I'm always using in the real world, could've affected it." Jack nodded.

"It's not an uncommon occurrence, sometimes the magic in your body absorb the particles of a certain object you're using and adheres it to your form. It happened to a distant cousin of mine." She used her psychic powers to open a drawer and grab a small pill from a bottle. She then handed it to him. "This should solve it." While Dipper gulped the pill down, grimacing with the bitter aftertaste, Jack summoned a mirror and handed it to him. His hair was back to its normal chocolate-brown color. "I suggest you don't have normal golden eyes either?" Dipper shook his head. "Beats me, can't help you with that one, but you can use this." She snapped her fingers and handed Dipper two contact lenses. Dipper grabbed them and slowly put them on; they were uncomfortable at first but after a few seconds of blinking it was like they weren't even there. He looked at the mirror again – he was back to his normal self.

"Thanks." Dipper turned to Jack. She smiled, and looked at the machine again. The beeping was still stable enough.

"You should get some rest, since you'll be staying overnight while I have to take care of some paperwork. If you're well enough, we'll let you go." She stood up, put the chair aside and headed towards the door, turning the lights off.

"Okay." He answered simply, feeling the energy being drained out of his body. He closed his eyes and dove onto unconsciousness with open arms.

**. . .**

"Damn, he died?" Danna asked once Beatrice informed the other three apprentices of what had happened to Dipper. "That must've been a wild ride! Did he meet God? How does the guy look like? Does he have a big beard like Dumbledore?" She kept asking question after question, but they were all ignored. Asaph seemed horrified at the idea of his friend having managed to reach death, while Daniel was just plain confused – how did that even happen, how did Dipper get back? Of course, Beatrice simply spun on her heels and closed the door behind her, leaving two confused and scared children behind and a rambling Danna. "Do you guys think he's a ghost now? Man, imagine Dipper as a ghost, it'd be so—" She was interrupted by a slap across her cheek. Daniel looked at her absolutely enraged.

"Are you _dense_? Our friend just came back from the fucking dead and all you think about is how 'cool' it would be if he was a ghost?! It would ruin his goddamn life!" His outburst was completely justified in his head, but he felt terrible for slapping his sister right after he had done that.

"Daniel, stop it!" Asaph got between them. "This is my fault. I asked the question and I take full responsibility of what happened." Daniel shook his head.

"You couldn't have predicted what would've happened next."

"I could, but I didn't." Asaph replied. Daniel opened his mouth to ask but immediately understood what he was talking about and shut up. "Look, this is a really complicated situation, I know, but we should just stop arguing about it and go to sleep, ok? It's better if we just _do it_ and stop this argument once and for all. Mentor Beatrice herself said he's not in imminent danger anymore, whatever that means. We should just go to sleep." The room fell silent. Danna was the first one to move to the top of her bunk bed and simply lay there, hand on her cheek. Daniel blushed, embarrassed of what he had done, but was too proud to simply apologize. He headed towards his bed and lied there as well. Asaph climbed his own bed and used his psychic powers to turn off the lights.-

They all drifted to sleep.

**. . .**

Danna woke up with an insatiable thirst.

It was so great that she was sure not even a river would satisfy it. She looked down to see if her brother and Asaph were still asleep; not surprisingly, they were. She slowly moved herself towards the ladder of the bunk bed and climbed it down, being as silent as possible. She already knew where the kitchen was. After having drunk a glass of water, Danna was ready to go back to bed but she saw a movement at the corner of her eye. She slowly headed towards the kitchen's exit and saw a figure walking towards another door that would lead to the castle's final exit eventually. As stealthy as she managed to be, Danna followed said figure until they had reached a hall with a few candles.

It was Dipper.

"Dipper?" She said by accident, immediately followed by covering her mouth with a hand. Dipper didn't turn around, or even acknowledge her presence; he just kept walking, deaf and blind to the world. Danna poked him in the back. "Dipper!" She uttered his name even louder, but it went unnoticed. "This isn't funny, man, you should be in bed!" She protested but he just kept walking. She almost didn't notice that his hair had switched back to its normal colors. "Hey, your hair's normal again! At least you no longer look like Rin from Ao No Exorcist!" Her comment died the moment it was uttered when they reached the main back door of the castle that also happened to be locked with a menacing-looking lock. "Oh, it's closed, so it looks like we've got to go back now!"

Dipper grabbed the lock and ripped it out without any effort. "What the absolute fuck…?" Danna whispered, watching it all dumbfounded.

The boy opened the door and kept walking. Danna hesitated – she was barefoot; however, knowing that wouldn't bother the normal, cheerful Danna, she took a leap of faith and followed Dipper. The grass was cold and welcoming; she hadn't stepped on grass barefoot in a long time, it was like reliving her childhood again. The air outside was warm and she could hear a few crickets. _Focus, Danna, you gotta follow Dip-dots!_ She scolded herself; she could have even slapped herself if she had remembered to do so. "C'mon, Dipper, it's not fun anymore!" She whined. Dipper stopped and, very slowly, turned to her. Danna's heart skipped a beat.

His irises were completely blood-red.

Her breath hitched and she took a step back, both in surprise and fear. What was happening? Was this some sort of prank? No, it couldn't be… Dipper never pulled pranks – she never saw him do so, at least; if he did, this was one cruel prank. "God…" She unwillingly whispered. Dipper turned back and carried on with his path like nothing had ever happened. Danna was conflicted between making a 180-degree turn and going back to the castle or continuing to follow Dipper. She bit her lip, took a deep breath and walked behind him. Looking back, the castle was getting smaller and smaller the more they walked; perspective was really weird.

The trees were becoming more abundant and the moonlight was becoming scarce. Danna had to narrow her eyes to be able to avoid upcoming obstacles, but not all of them – somehow she kept tripping on stuff no matter how much she tried not to. After ten minutes of following Dipper silently, he finally stopped on his tracks. The castle was no longer within eyesight. That's when she saw him finally move again and this time it was to fall flat on the floor with a loud 'oof'. His eyes fluttered open, this time in their characteristic chocolate brown and tried to sit up. The first thing he saw was Danna standing in front of him, completely dumbfounded. "Danna…?" He looked around. "Where am I? Why are you here?"

"What? You walked up to this place _by yourself_." She crossed her arms; this was the worst joke or prank she had ever heard. Dipper then stood up.

"No, I didn't, I was asleep!" He protested. The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity trying to fight something neither of them could win until Dipper felt a pressure on his back which was so great it dropped him to the floor once again. "What the…" He murmured, before looking back. He jumped on his feet pretty quickly before realizing what was going on, the color draining from his face. Danna looked at him in panic, not knowing what was happening; she looked around.

The place was surrounded by Corbos.

* * *

**A/N: ****I'm going to preface this by saying this won't be one of my usual A/Ns where I ask you questions and interact with you in a lighthearted way, I'm here to say much deeper things, so, if you don't want to read it, then it is okay.**

**I am a good writer. And you know what that means? It means I'm a good writer. I'm not _the _good writer or _The Goddess Writer, Supreme Ruler of the Multiverse_; I'm just a good, average writer. When I was young (approximately nine-years-old), I was an awkward, self-conscious, shy person with low self-esteem and, at the same time, I was starting to learn more about the English language – which I had been learning since I was six, by the way. So, I spent some time training my newly-found skills by writing fanfictions, many of which were terrible experiments that I had to put down – I had to end their suffering. One in particular was my first fanfiction ever, a Club Penguin (R.I.P) fanfiction, and the main character was my original character, a Mary Sue by heart. I deleted it upon realizing what demonic beast I had released upon the poor souls of FF. net, and started writing other stories until they had a consistent plot and realistic characters.**

**This means I've lied when I said Cipher Secret was my first story, when it actually wasn't. In a way, I believe Cipher Secret _is_ my first one – all of the others were simple _sketches_ that I've been experimenting on until I found a perfect formula, and that formula became this fanfic, written by yours truly. The amount of time I spent calculating the depth of the plot, all of the characters' personalities and all that was absurd – time I could've spent doing anything else, but that I decided to spend here instead. And, no, I'm not complaining at all, I love you guys. For those who have followed me for almost two years, I am grateful you're still here.**

**When I started this fanfiction, I was 13, naïve, young and without a grasp of certain American slangs and sayings. I've stopped a few days ago to re-read a few chapters (mind you, I haven't finished re-writing them, so some might still be untouched and I will edit them in the future) and, while I think they're very well-written for a non-fluent 13-year-old, I notice a few rookie mistakes, which I have taken the time to correct. I wasn't perfect back then, and I took a lot of inspiration from things around me, such as movies (Dipper's wolf form was inspired by Ame from Wolf Children, if the blue hair didn't give it away (don't worry, I have a good explanation for said hair), also, the movie is a masterpiece, I suggest it greatly), anime (*cough* yaoi *cough*), etc. Because of these mistakes, I made a list of items I have corrected and added so far:**

**— Spelling mistakes (I didn't know proper _grammer_ [sic] back then).  
— Plot holes and contradictions in the narration.  
— Certain details that didn't match.  
— Adding more description to certain things.  
— The pin number to the chip on the Wyvern (this one is very important so I suggest you read Episode 10 again, just to check the number, no need to read the whole thing).  
— Certain phrases said by the characters that sounded 110% OOC and that I'd give a 7.8/10 (get the reference? Yes? No? Okay…).**

**I have very intelligent readers. After all, you're all Gravity Falls fans, and thus I wouldn't expect anything else from you all. I've done lots of foreshadowing on my story and I never expected anyone to notice them at all – some of you have come so close to the true plot twist I was baffled. And, about the plot twist, I will hopefully drag you into this maddening discovery with me. It will be a fun experience and I will gladly listen to all of your theories; heck, I could listen to them all day. iBombinate's theories were eye candy, so close to what I had actually planned! Keep up the good work, you all! I also wanted to add that I will gladly accept any constructive criticism given to me, since it's what helped me change for the better; just be respectful and I will gladly accept that, like any other human, I have made mistakes and will fix them.**

**EDIT: Yay, grammar errors.**

**_Awakened Niwana, off._**


	44. Episode 42

**Episode 42: Recipe for disaster.  
Arc: "The Arc of Ciphers"  
Opening: Core Pride — UVERworld.**

**. . .**

_"We are trapped in cycles and the end is never clear.  
But a story is a story all the same  
and today, like any, has an ending so to say,  
far away and out beyond that scorching summer day…"_

_— Kagerou Days. Jin (Shizen no teki-P) and Jubyphonic [English lyrics]._

**. . .**

Dipper's breath hitched as he slowly crawled back and towards Danna, who eyed the creatures in confusion and distrust.

The corbo that had pushed Dipper was now standing in front of them, wings wide open, probably in a pathetic attempt to look intimidating. "Greetings, apprentices," the corbo says whilst retracting _her_ wings, and her voice sounded very feminine and strangely soothing, but the two children were still wary. At this point, Dipper gathered enough courage to stand up; a few corbos leaned forward with the intent to attack him, but the one in front of the children raised her right wing and they relaxed again. Danna's eyes narrowed as she analyzed the bird's feathers: she was _sure_ she had seen that pattern before... "My name is Kalisha, and, alongside my associates, I have a mission, and that mission is to destroy the one who ruined my life." And once she said that, Danna audibly clasped her hands together and took a deep breath.

"_Okay,_" she exclaimed, putting her best fake grin on. "So, uh, good luck with your revenge and all. If you don't mind, we'll be going—" While she was turning around, one of the corbos took flight and pushed her to the floor. At this point, she was done with being nice. "Hey, what the f—"

"I have not finished my speech," Kalisha reprimanded Danna in a cool and harsh voice. The redhead paid her no attention and stood up without hesitating. "I would not be saying this unless it involved you in some way. Cipher has crushed my dreams, killed the ones I love and has escaped unpunished. My mission is simple: find the Cipher megalomaniac and kill him. At last, the first part of my mission has been completed, and now the second is about to take place." Kalisha stared at Dipper. "How disgraceful, Cipher. Hiding behind a human's shape, and a child's, no less? You truly have no shame, do you?" Dipper was completely confused by this. Was she talking to him?

"I don't know what you're talking about…" He murmured, taking a step back.

"So you're telling me you don't remember setting my mentor's house on fire, watching as my sister was barely engulfed in the flames and hearing me continuously praying for you to stop, asking 'why, why, why?' repeatedly? Are you saying you don't remember all of the people you murdered and tortured? Are you actually telling me you don't remember turning me into this vile creature, the one that has killed my parents in front of me, whilst saying 'take this as a gift so you will always remember your dead parents and bathe in their disgrace'? You may have forgotten, but I never will." Dipper could feel his heart clenching; somehow, he thought that situation sounded familiar. Just as he was about to explain he had nothing to do with this, something in him snapped: he saw flashes – people burning, tripping, pushing and running over each other, the bright yellow flames swallowing their small town and a young, dark-haired, pale-skinned girl holding a crying baby, both covered in ashes, screaming 'why?' at him repeatedly, and the people's screams still reverberated in his mind.

"**_I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! MAKE IT STOP!_**" Dipper bellowed as his voice rose to a demoniac tone. Danna took a step forward, away from him, and stared at his eyes, which were now bright yellow mixed with hues of red. Kalisha, also taken aback, took a step back and raised her right wing once again as the group of corbos prepared to attack; their irises were glowing in a blue color, indicating they were ready and fearless. Danna's eyes widened as she realized the situation they were in and, in panic, lunged at Dipper, grabbing both his shoulders and shaking them violently. The boy was in a seeming trance, and the color in his eyes shifted constantly from brown to red and golden. The temperature in that forest seemed to have heavily dropped.

"Dude, snap out of it!" She yelled at him. One of the corbos, the same one that had bumped against her when she tried to leave, took flight and was heading their way. Feeling her rage building and patience breaking in half, Danna extended her hand and snapped her fingers, feeling her fingertips tingling with magic. In less than a second the bird sunk to the floor like a rock in the sea. "You know what? Fuck you and fuck this!" She yelled, pointing at Kalisha, who narrowed her eyes. Her grip on Dipper's shoulder tightened and the corbo that was being held down yelped, feeling the gravity enhancing. Danna took a step back, still not letting go of her friend's shoulder, realizing she couldn't control her magic that much and they should get out of there _immediately_. Almost as if she was reading their mind, Kalisha let out a bestial screech and a horde of corbos lunged at them, but they were too late.

Danna and Dipper were gone in a heartbeat.

**_. . ._**

"Daniel? Daniel? Daniel, wake up!" Daniel partially woke up to a figure bathed in the room's shadows shaking him whilst whispering his name repeatedly. For the first two seconds it was a horrifying sight and he nearly jumped in terror, until he blinked and the figure took the shape of no one else but Asaph; Daniel didn't know why he didn't recognize him by his voice alone. "Daniel, it's about Danna: she's gone!" He shout-whispered, but Daniel just groaned and barely turned around to face his friend. He was just too tired to actually care about anything else – his body felt as heavy as a bag of sand and his eyes burned and fluttered, wishing for him to go back to sleep as soon as possible; Daniel didn't know why he should just ignore this to go search for Danna.

"I don't care, she's probably on the bathroom or on the kitchen, now go back to goddamn sleep." And with that said, he turned around, buried his face in his pillow and dozed off without a care in the world. Just about three minutes later he felt a hand on his arm and he _knew_ exactly who it was. "Holy crap, it's been three minutes! Danna's fine, Asaph, no one's going to kill or injure her with our mentors near the castle, now go back to sleep before I grab this pillow and shove it up your…" Daniel stopped himself before he could say anything else. Asaph never uttered a word during his rant and now the redhead felt guilty. "Sorry, I'm just _so _tired… And it's been only three minutes…" Asaph nodded at him; it wasn't visible in the dark, but he was smiling slightly.

"Don't worry about it, Dan, it's understandable, but, um, how do I say that… It's been two hours since I last woke you up." Daniel immediately sat up, just barely hitting his head on the bunk bed on top of him.

"T-that can't be right," he stuttered, pushing the covers aside. "My sister wouldn't be gone for that long unless she's in trouble." Asaph helped him up; Daniel hastily rubbed his tired eyes and sprinted from the room, with his friend on his tail. The amount of times they got lost was maddening but none of them would admit their defeat, walking through endless hallways. "What the fuck, this place is like a goddamned maze!" He cursed loudly. Asaph just followed quietly and with wide eyes – he had never seen Daniel curse so much in such a short time period. At one point, he threw his hands in the air and turned to Asaph. "You lead."

"I'm just as lost as you." The other replied.

"I don't care, I'm too tired and my emotions are numb and my feet are cold," the more Daniel spoke, the more his voice tone lowered. "Please don't make me continue." Asaph rolled his eyes.

"Fine," just as he took a step forward, he turned back to Daniel. "_Where_ are we going, exactly?" It was like activating a bomb.

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE…!"

**_. . ._**

"We might be safe here…" Danna murmured, looking around. At least that part of the forest didn't seem to have any corbos. "Our only problem is finding out where 'here' is." She stared at Dipper, whose eyes were still as creepy and lifeless as before. He grabbed his shoulders and shook him again. "Dipper, _snap out of it_! I don't know what those birds did to you, but you've got to wake up!" Finally, she got the desired effect. Dipper blinked twice and his eyes returned to their original brown color. His breathing had slowed down and he wasn't shaking as much as before – it was like she had awoken him from a terrible nightmare, and she was quite proud of that. He looked at her in the eyes. "Welcome back to Funland, kiddo," she greeted.

"Fun— what? Where are we…?" Dipper asked, confused. The cold air of the night made both his and Danna's hair sway repeatedly. The redhead rubbed the back of her neck.

"_SO_, about that…" She began, eyeing the newly discovered part of the forest. "I don't know _exactly_." Dipper opened his mouth to berate her but she was faster. "Yes, yes, I know what you're going to say so I'm going to defend myself here. We were being attacked by god knows what and I panicked, you were, like, hypnotized or something, so I had to teleport us away! The problem is I didn't have a specific place in mind so now we're _somewhere_. I learned this watching Asaph to it so it's harder than it looks." Dipper let out a sigh, pinching the end of his nose, and then looked around. Those trees were familiar; perhaps (and hopefully) they were still near the castle. What should they do, now? Those corbos were surely still after them.

"We have to get going…" Dipper replied, grabbing Danna's wrist and walking forward. However, she pulled her wrist away, making him stop in his tracks.

"Alright, but _where_?" She asked, skeptical.

"I don't know, but if we don't move, and stay still, the corbos will catch up with us, and I don't want to know what happens next." He explained, resuming his walk. Danna groaned but followed him anyway. "How can corbos enter the Nightmare Realm, though? I thought only demons or half-demons could do that…" He thought out loud. Danna raised an eyebrow – that was an interesting question. "Maybe they are demon birds? No, I don't think that works…" Danna then had an epiphany.

"What if Lucifer let them in?" She proposed.

"That could be it, but why?" Dipper looked at her behind his shoulders. "Why would Lucifer make an exception for corbos?"

"_Duh_, they **kill people** in the worst way possible. The king of demons could like them because of that. When we get back to the castle we can ask." Danna suggested. Dipper shuddered at the thought, but didn't protest. "Speaking of them, what's up with those psychotic birds? It's like they wanted us dead. Well, more like _you_, but I don't like feeling left out, you know?" Dipper bit his lip. Whatever those corbos wanted, it couldn't be good; he didn't know they could talk, though, or was Kalisha the only exception for this? "Oi, didn't she say she had been turned into a corbo? That means she's a human, right?" It was like Danna had just read his mind.

"I'd forgotten about that detail," he admitted.

"Dipper, can I ask you something?" Danna didn't really wait for an answer. "Do you _really _not remember leaving the castle? I saw you walking, but your eyes were red and it was really freaky." Dipper stopped.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I… I don't remember anything like that."

"Oh…"

"You sound disappointed."

"Mm-hm…" Danna hummed, pausing. "You know, this whole time we were walking, I could've teleported us to the castle."

"I don't really trust you to teleport us anywhere anymore." Dipper said carefully, hoping he didn't sound very rude. Danna crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out. "Besides, I like your company." There was only silence. Danna felt her heart skip a beat and Dipper just realized what he had said. _In a friendly way! _He completed in his mind, but didn't have the heart to say it out loud. "Maybe we should get going. We've wasted too much time." Danna only nodded without uttering a word. The words 'I like your company' echoed in her mind; was she blushing? _God, I hope not, but it is night; is my skin visible at night? _She wondered. Dipper sounded exactly like him. Her heart ached at the comparison. The next minutes were spent in complete silence.

After all, what could she even say?

**_. . ._**

"I feel a slight disturbance in the air."

Keehnesi pursued his lips. He felt strange, anxious, and maybe _uneasy_. Just as he said those eight words, the gigantic double doors of the room opened and one maid (named Izura) rushed in, bowing hastily. "P-princes, princess, the children d-disappeared," she stuttered, expecting her superiors' reactions. Surprisingly, they were much tamer than she expected.

"I told you he was a smartass." Bill joked, playing with the ice cubes on an empty glass of alcohol. "Can even predict the future, the asshole…" After that, he hiccupped. Keehnesi scoffed.

"I didn't predict the future, idiot. I simply stated something from the present." He then looked at his sister. "Bea, come with me. Bill, you stay and sober up." In an unexpected fit of rage, Bill put the glass down with so much strength it actually cracked. After that, everyone in the room, save the yellow prince, completely froze. Izura bolted from the room faster than anyone would've expected a frail demon maid to; she didn't want to see the outcome of this.

"I'm pretty sober, asshole. Come on, we got some kids to punish." His siblings groaned. There was no convincing a drunk Billius Cipher to follow the rules.

**_. . ._**

"I think that's the exit," Asaph said, pointing to the door in front of them.

"It must be it! We didn't round this damn castle for nothing." Daniel complained, opening the door. Just as he did that, the sudden airflow and scenario in front of him made him blink. "It's a… forest?" He questioned, confused. "Danna, you'd better be alive so I'll kill you myself." Asaph took a deep breath; the fresh air coming from the forest was very soothing; it almost made him forget he was tired as heck. "Well, the earlier we start, the earlier I can get my hands on Danna's throat. Come on, Aph." He grabbed the other's wrist and began dragging him. _I almost forgot I'm dragging my crush around, but I'm just so tired I don't care at all; maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and cringe about this_, Daniel thought.

"Alright, then, what's the plan?" There was a pregnant pause. Daniel didn't have a plan; he didn't even know what he wanted to do, much less what he wanted to do _in a_ _calculated and precise way_ – he was completely groggy and still somewhat half-asleep. With a sudden idea and feeling a sense of adventure coming, he turned to Asaph and stared at him in the eyes, letting go of his wrist. Asaph stiffened; he had seen that dangerous glint in one's eyes before. This was Danna's signature stare, and you could tell just by said stare that she was going to force the others around her to do something that everyone else but her would regret later.

"Asaph, we might have a better view if we search from above, right?" The other nodded, now understanding what Daniel's intentions were.

"Daniel, you don't know how to fly—"

"You're _very_ inspirational." Daniel deadpanned, his voice dripping with the most recognizable of sarcasms. "I have an idea. Do you think we can climb the top of this castle?" He asked, pointing to the castle's roof. Asaph couldn't even see the aforementioned roof considering the castle was tall as heck. Climbing it would be madness and it would be hard not to attract attention.

"Daniel, did you switch souls with Danna? What the hell are you thinking?!" In response, Daniel yawned. He was still tired, it seemed.

"Oh, wait! You can teleport, right? Teleport us up, it'll be faster!" The redhead grabbed Asaph's shoulders and shook him. It took the latter just two seconds to realize what was happening. _Is he… drunk? _He asked himself. Daniel was acting drunk. His normal self was more cautious and level-headed; meanwhile, he was attempting dangerous stunts only Danna would try to pull off and was extremely touchy, losing all senses of intimacy, self-awareness and inhibition. Sighing, Asaph closed his eyes, focused and teleported them both to the top of the castle. Once they had arrived, they almost lost their balance on the roof tiles, which seemed to be able to succumb under their weight at any moment. Asaph looked at Daniel.

"Alright, we're here. What's your other plan?" There was no response; none at all. Instead, Daniel walked closer to the edge and looked down. If he falls, it will be a long way to the floor, and the impact will surely kill him instantaneously – that is, if he doesn't have a heart attack midway, of course. "Uh, Daniel, I asked what your plan is now." He stated coolly. They didn't have time for sightseeing; the mentors would realize something was amiss. Before he could repeat the phrase a third time, however, he saw something he'd never expect or want to see.

Daniel jumped.

* * *

**A/N: He ded.**

**Hey, guys, it's been a while :P I know, you're probably angry at me and thought I gave up on this story, but I did add to the summary I still plan on continuing it! As you guys might not know, I'm a highschool junior, and that is a lot of work. I have to study for seven subjects for a test planned for this saturday (they make you wake up on saturday! WTF is this madness?!). I took some time off to write this chapter and I'm quite proud of how it turned out. TBH that ending wasn't on my plans but we all improvise at some point, right? I did... multiple times. Really, guys, half of this story is improvised XD but I'm glad it turned out the way it did. Daniel's quite OOC because the spiked drink he took might be starting to affect him.**

**So, meet Kalisha! She's been in this story before, if you guys search it up you'll find her. She has quite the tragic past, poor kid. Also, Bill is drinking a super alcoholic beverage made especially for demons (trust me, if one of the apprentices drink it they'll die of... something, I'm sure), and he doesn't have a high alcohol tolerance. I've also been busy watching the gayest of animes, Junjou Romantica- just kidding, it's "Yuri! on Ice". I love it (no judgement). So, um, here are some questions:**

**(1) So, is Daniel dead? (this is not Disney, minding you guys)  
(2) Who do you think Kalisha is and what is her relation with Dipper?  
(3) Can you feel the love tonight?  
(4) Dipper x Danna? Will it happen? Thoughts? Protests? Make your bets. (I'm not confirming or denying anything, you all, don't put words in my mouth, or my A/N).  
**

**This might be the chapter with the most curse words. There's, like, five. Drunk people have no boundaries. Welp, I guess that's all for today :) thanks for reading!**

***corrected a word. Now two words. An entire phrase. YAY YOU, NIWANA :D /s**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


	45. Episode 43

**Episode 43: The end justifies the means.  
Arc: "Ciphers: apprentices, associates and lieges."  
Opening: Black Bullet — Opening 1.**

**. . .**

_"Why can't I see? Why can't I see all the colors that you see?  
Please, can I be… Please, can I be…  
…Colorful and free?"_

_— Echo. Vocaloid._

**. . .**

Danna eyed Dipper carefully, feeling the night's cold breeze against her skin, her face still burning.

She hates herself for letting that happen. She remembers the last words the two of them uttered to each other, full of hate and hurt, and she _let him go_. Danna knows it's not real, the feelings she has for Dipper, they're simply projections, but she can't help it. She misses him so much, and now that a person so similar to him has entered her life, she used said person as a substitute. God, she feels ashamed; she wanted to believe it was him, simply playing with her, waiting for the perfect opportunity to yell 'it's a prank!' and let everything go back to normal, to when they were _happy_. That wasn't going to happen, however, and she knows it. When Dipper said 'I like your company', sounding _exactly_ like _him_, her heart might've stopped. She was hoping Dipper didn't see her blush, hoping she didn't let him know.

If he found out, she'd die, either of a broken heart or out of shame. Perhaps she should just hide what she feels—

"Shit!" Danna cursed as she tripped on a rock, causing her to fall face-first on the floor. Luckily the floor was dry and covered by grass, or it would've been a much more painful fall. _Great, just great, _she thought sarcastically. She had been so distracted by her own stupid thoughts she actually forgot about the path, causing her not to pay attention and trip on something. She never tried to get up. _I'm so fucking pathetic, _she thought, feeling like laughing. She remembers what he'd told her: _"You should smile more, I like it." _She tried to smile and find something positive about this, but she _couldn't_. Why was this so ridiculous? Why did she feel so guilty? Danna hadn't even noticed Dipper approaching her. He extended a hand, probably to help her.

"Do you need he—" He asked, but she slapped his hand away.

"I'm fucking _great_." She interrupted, standing up like nothing had happened and giving him her best fake smile as if nothing had ever happened. His words flashed in her mind again: _"I know you're faking your smile. Stop it." _Despite that, her fake smile never faltered. "So, where were we?"

**_. . ._**

"Daniel!" Asaph yelled, rushing to the edge of the roof, to check if his friend was still alive, only to find nothing.

For a moment, he hesitated. Should he jump or stay? Where was Daniel? Was he awake or sober enough to be able to fly without breaking a few bones? What if Daniel didn't survive the fall, which was a very likely possibility? Every single decision weighed on his shoulders, and Asaph knew that if he continued thinking about this he would end up having a stroke. In the end, he just stood there, completely frozen, not knowing what to do, his mind going flat line. _Daniel must be dead at this point,_ Asaph thought, not knowing how to feel, but knowing this wasn't wishful thinking. Guilt was just about to hit him when he saw a silhouette in the corner of his eyes, getting closer and closer. Instinctively, he took a step back, right before something flew to the sky, before stopping for a second and lowering itself down. "I did it!" It shouted, before Asaph could see its form. No, it wasn't an 'it', it was Daniel.

"Thank god," Asaph whispered, running a hand through his hair, as Daniel sloppily landed near him, looking as happy and proud as ever. Asaph, however, wasn't amused. Daniel could've died in a billion ways, and it would've been his fault for letting it happen, for even agreeing to teleport them to the top of that castle. Why did he even do that? He should've known better. Without thinking, he ran to his friend, grabbing him by his shoulders and started shaking him. "Are you _dense_? You could have died!"

"Well, it's an efficient method, and it worked!" Daniel explained; he sounded a bit shook.

"You could have **_died_**." Asaph emphasized.

"Well, I didn't." Daniel retorted, taking a step back and escaping Asaph's grasp. He scowled. "Even if I died, I could be brought back to life. Isn't that what happened to Dipper? Oh, and remember what you told me the first day we met? You had put yourself in danger trying to do something very advanced and when your mentor got angry you just said 'the end justifies the means'. Well, the end justifies the means." Asaph bit his lip. Daniel had just won the whole argument and he had nothing else to say. He _wanted_ to argue, because he didn't want to lose, but anything he would say at that moment would sound stupid or childish or both.

"How _dare_ you use Machiavelli against me," Asaph joked.

"What can I say? I'm great at using things I don't know against others." Daniel shrugged, but he never managed to hide his smile. Of course, their happiness only lasted for five seconds. "Shit, we forgot about Danna." He remembered.

"We did." Asaph stated blandly, turning around and facing the forest ahead; it was surprisingly big, maybe as much as the forest in Gravity Falls. "Well, let's go look for her, then, the faster, the better. And, please, if you're going to jump again, at least warn me. I swear I almost had a stroke and I'm not even thirteen yet." And with that said he put a hand on where his heart should be in an attempt to be even more dramatic. Daniel rolled his eyes, but he smirked once again.

"I'm not making any promises."

**_. . ._**

"Fuck…" Kalisha cursed, looking around.

How could Danna Saeryd side with that disgusting and pathetic excuse of a demon? She was supposed to be on their side, not his! She couldn't believe Ariadne actually thought a bunch of kids were their only hope! "My lady," one of the corbos, named Hauh, approached her and bowed, using his telepathy to communicate. "What are your orders?" Kalisha looked up, eyeing the horde of expectant corbos in an attempt to think about her next move, and then looked at the corbo that Danna had taken down. She didn't look hurt, but she did seem shook by the experience; Kalisha couldn't blame her, she'd feel the same way if it happened to her. She had underestimated their powers. Cipher was undoubtedly powerful, and Danna was no match for him, but it seemed like she could keep him busy for a few minutes, maybe even hours if she strived for it. However, now that she knew that the girl was on the traitor's side, she was scared, because their powers combined would become unpredictable.

"Are you hurt, Yhra?" Kalisha asked to the corbo Danna had taken down. Even if Yhra didn't look hurt, she could have easily broken a bone and none of them had x-ray vision to be sure. Yhra shook her head.

"No, my lady, I was just taken aback." She explained, looking down, thinking. "I don't know what happened. It's like the whole world's gravity intensified around me… I couldn't move. But, when she teleported, everything went back to normal…" Kalisha nodded.

"My lady, I think that the girl has the power to alter gravity according to her will, but in a specific place or body, since we haven't been affected by it." Hauh speculated. "Demons and their variants have certain powers, called 'special abilities', and they allow them to do this."

"Very observant, Hauh," She praised with a dull face. The corbo just nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright, listen, all of you!" She cried out to the rest of the corbos, as they turned to her, giving her their full attention. "I want you to split in groups of five. Search throughout this forest and do not come back until you have found the murderer and the renegade. Once you do, do not attack them, but come back to us instead. This exact place will be our meeting spot. We'll attack together, since our chances of succeeding will be greater that way. Understood?" Without waiting for an answer, Kalisha took flight and disappeared within the night.

**_. . ._**

"I think we're on the right way to the castle. If we make it, we're safe." Dipper told Danna as she processed that new information. She didn't know they were heading to the castle, but, in hindsight, she should've noticed when Dipper started turning to their left and then back to where they had been before. She never spoke up, however, because Dipper was smarter than her strategy-wise, so he should know what he's doing. _But_ she still couldn't hold herself back.

"I thought your plan was to roam around like headless chickens so those birds won't get to us." She pointed out. Dipper paused for a moment before continuing like nothing had happened.

"Change of plans." He clarified. "We'll be safer in the castle than in the opening."

"Not if the mentors find everything out." Danna considered. "They'll sell out souls to their father for some ice cream and Tylenol, I'm sure." Dipper bit back a laugh considering how ridiculous her last sentence was. "_But _now I'm curious… Why did those creatures attack us if you didn't do anything? Do you look like the person they are looking for?" On one hand, Danna was hoping the corbo wasn't looking for _him_, but, on the other hand, if she was, that meant he was still alive. It was the most bittersweet fictional situation she'd been in. Dipper never stopped walking, but his heart might have. The truth was: he didn't know. He wished he did, but he didn't. All he knew was that she was looking for a 'Cipher' and, while he was Bill's apprentice, that didn't make him Dipper Cipher… right?

"I don't know. I've never seen them before…" He finally answered. "And, hopefully, I never will." He added. _But why do I feel like I do know them? _The question simply popped out of nowhere in his mind, and it lingered. Those memories he suddenly had when the bird spoke to him… They _felt_ real, they were real. Maybe he was just thinking too much about it…

_"Who are you?"_

_"I am **you**."_

Yes, he was definitely just being ridiculous.

**_. . ._**

"Where do we start looking?" Bill asked, twirling his cane in his hands. His siblings stared at him blankly; they had no idea. "Well, let's see, if I were four very drunk children, where would I go?"

"Hopefully not the forest near the castle or the corbos could easily get them. We should've given them a warning." Beatrice pondered, putting a hand on her chin. She had considered telling the children about them, and how they could enter and leave the Nightmare Realm as they pleased, but she'd forgotten about it. She also assumed they were smart enough to know leaving their side to go explore an unknown area was a bad idea, but then remembered they had given the apprentices golden coins to explore the city and buy things, dangerous things that could kill them if they weren't careful. Danna had bought a goddamn _retractable sword_. Maybe they were lucky the children didn't decide to explore the forest back then. Keehnesi shook his head in disbelief.

"I still can't believe the corbos have enough demon essence to count as demons and _just barely_ be able to go through the barrier." He lamented. "How could Lucifer allow a flaw like this to go unnoticed?"

"I think he did this on purpose." Bill suggested. "I mean, free chaos, deaths _and_ pretty birds? It's a fair price to me." Beatrice clicked her tongue.

"You really _are _Lucifer's son." Her voice was full of venom.

"Words can't hurt me, sis, I'm drunk."

"So you _do _admit you're not sober." She pointed out. Bill was about to reply when Keehnesi ended their argument right there before it escalated to something much worse. He'd seen his siblings argue before, and he'd seen the destruction they left behind. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"**_Stop it._**" He ordered with a demoniac voice. "If we want our apprentices _alive _and _whole _we need to work together and not act like a bunch of overhyped toddlers. I'll activate the royal guard to search for them, and split them in three groups. We then search around until they're found, hopefully well. I don't want to hear your opinions on the subject. I'm the soundest person here and thus I make the rules. Prepare yourselves while I warn the guard about our situation." And he was gone in a snap of fingers. Bill and Beatrice exchanged glances. Bill put his cane down.

"That went well."

"Yep…"

"Do you think the brats are still alive?"

"I don't have a positive answer for that."

**_. . ._**

Saying Dipper had been acting weird lately was an understatement.

Wendy knew how the boy usually acted. He was a nerdy explorer who was always willing to tell her about his new discoveries, and she would eagerly listen to him. Despite having had really awkward situations before, they remained great friends. However, he'd been acting… _out of character_ lately. Usually she'd dismiss a few things, but they were becoming more concerning. Dipper was starting to hang out with different people (she knew he wasn't a very social person), he was becoming more nervous about everything, he started sleeping more and his hair had become _blue _without any explanation. When she had just arrived at the shack and saw him fainted in the couch, she was worried for him, of course. When he said it was just a headache, she became suspicious.

He barely talked to her anymore. When had he become so distant? Not only distant to her, but to Mabel as well. He no longer went on adventures with her like they used to. Wendy often offered to accompany her on her adventures, but Mabel just smiled, said everything was okay and went to her room, her aura becoming sad and dark. It broke Wendy's heart to see her friend, almost a little sister, so sad and broken. She needed to know what was going on… Perhaps she should confront him later when he returned. She still didn't know why he left, but she spotted him heading to Summertown with three other children.

Yes, she was going to confront him, and nothing was going to stop her.

* * *

**A/N: Soooooo... How's it been?**

**First thing: about the first part. I had an entire speech planned but I'm gonna just talk as we go. Yes, you should read it, it's kinda important. Well, when I was a tiny 13-year-old who loved those crappy romance fanfics, I decided (stupidly) I needed a ship for this fanfic, which was a kinda big mistake because NOT ALL FANFICS NEED SHIPPINGS YOU HEAR ME PEOPLE? When I started this fanfic I didn't even intend to ship them, I just kinda did, which is why it looks out of place. As I aged and gained this thing called wisdom, I realized my mistake. Taking everything off and re-writing the scenes where Danna hints her love for Dipper would be too much work and not worth it, so I came up with a part of the story. It does make sense (somewhat) and I was planning on including it in this chapter, but it would look too out of place, so I will include it next chapter. I'm sorry for the crappy ship, y'all, and nope, I don't ship Danna x Dipper at all, which is why I asked, because, if you guys liked, I'd have to work around it, and it's too much work and I'd hate it; thanks for everyone who voted no on this ship. I've learned with my mistakes. In a nutshell: Danna's love is purely one-sided. Dipper will never correspond because he doesn't love her. Kinda like Wendip (I don't like Wendip tbh, come at me people).**

**Second thing: I've been kinda losing interest in this fanfic. I WILL STILL FINISH IT, I SWEAR, don't die yet, but I haven't had the same spark in my eyes when I wrote it. So, I'm sorry if my fanfic looks a little lazy, but I've been too stressed with my homework being a highschool junior and I've been in this fandom for two years, so I eventually began to lose interest a little. I'm sorry if you guys are disappointed.**

**Third thing: the timeline in this fanfic is hella messy and I did everything in my power to fix it. Quite unfortunately, to fix it completely, I'd have to re-write the fanfic and I'm not into torturing you guys into reading 42 chapters of this crap. My timeline will be clean from now on. There will be some things that hint previous chapters, though, so I'd be wary. **

**Well, that sums it all up. As you can see, there's a new arc, and I've included Wendy's POV on the matter to wrap this chapter up. It's small, for now, but I will expand it (somehow) and I will also add Soos' POV. Now that I've read this whole fanfic it's not as good as I thought back when I was 13 XD well, living and learning, people. Oh, almost forgot: next year I might not be as active, because being a senior is much, much harder, you have tests every week, I'm not even kidding. I might be more active after two weeks since that's when my vacation starts.**

**EDIT: Don't try and remember the random corbos' names, they aren't important (only Kalisha is).**

_**Awakened Niwana, off.**_


End file.
